Ellie Goulding explores the conflicting emotions of holding on when it’s time to let go in her new stirring song, “Flux.” Produced by Jim Elliot and Joe Kearns, the piano-led, strings-tipped ballad’s accompanying video was directed by Rianne White.
The sensual, black-and-white clip mirrors the song’s minimalist production, which both bring Goulding to the fore via her emotive vocals and as the focus of the imagery. In the clip, she’s seen alone in a cavernous room as she elegantly moves to the melodies, plays piano and later cathartically sings as rain comes down. The singer yearns for something that is no longer concrete. “I’m still in love with the idea of loving you,” she sings. “It’s a state of flux, but it’s not enough.”
“‘Flux’ is a song that I wrote entirely from the heart that seemed to capture how I felt about not ever being able to let go of a past love, even though it was over for a reason,” Goulding said in a statement. “I feel like I am in a constant state of change and upheaval and it makes me unable to root myself and get over things easily.
“On this record I found myself taking inspiration from different relationships and stages in my life,” she continued. “The past two years have been the first time I’ve really been able to confront my survival techniques throughout my work – to be able to reflect on how being on tour nonstop, performing, and having to be ‘OK’ all the time affected me as a human being and how it took its toll on my relationships.”
Earlier in the month, Goulding appeared in Clean Bandit’s Trump-parodying “Mama” video. She also recently released “Close to Me” featuring Diplo and Rae Sremmurd.