


In November, she released her rendition of Joni Mitchell's Christmas song " River", which topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming her third UK number-one single and the last UK number one song of the 2010s. In July 2019, Goulding stated that her next material to be released would be the songs "Woman I Am" and "Start". "Flux" was released on 1 March of the same year. She told The Guardian in early 2019, "It's very much written by me." She further discussed three new songs: " Flux", "Love I'm Given" and "Electricity". On 24 October 2018, she released " Close to Me" with Diplo and Swae Lee. That same month, Goulding released a collaboration with Kygo entitled " First Time". In April of the same year, producer BloodPop revealed on social media he was in the studio with Goulding. In January 2017, Goulding announced that work on new music had begun. To promote the album, Goulding was set to embark on the Brightest Blue Tour on 28 April 2021, however this was pushed back to 5 October 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions in the UK. The album also peaked inside the top ten in several other countries. It became Goulding's third album to peak at number one in the UK and fourth album to debut inside the top three on the chart. Brightest Blue received generally positive reviews from music critics. It is Goulding's first album since Delirium (2015). The album was preceded by three singles: " Worry About Me", " Power" and " Slow Grenade", and features guest vocals from Blackbear, Diplo, Juice Wrld, Lauv, serpentwithfeet and Swae Lee. Originally scheduled for 5 June 2020, the album's release was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released on 17 July 2020 through Polydor Records. Brightest Blue is the fourth studio album by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding.
