# Higher Than Heaven

Higher Than Heaven is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding, released on 7 April 2023 by Polydor Records. It marks her first album in three years, since Brightest Blue (2020).
The record was preceded by the singles "Easy Lover", "Let It Die", "Like a Saviour" and "By the End of the Night", and was met with moderate commercial success, debuting at number-one on Scotland and the United Kingdom. It became Goulding's fourth chart-topping album on the later, making Goulding tie with Adele as the two British female artists with the most number-one albums in UK history.
Higher Than Heaven received generally positive reviews from music critics. Several critics praised Goulding's honesty after calling it "her least personal album yet", with many critics stating that her statement worked in her favour, as well valuing the singer focus of bringing back escapist Pop as "refreshing" and "fun".

## Background and development

The album was written in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Goulding: "There was definitely a darkness about [the past two years] that was palpable in the studio, with everyone having gone through it differently. I think for that reason, nobody wanted to sit and agonise over some relationship or some drama. So that's how this album came together."
Goulding expressed that in contrast to her previous 2020 album Brightest Blue, the album is her "least personal album." She elaborated "...I think it's the best album because I got to just explore other things about myself. I just really, really enjoy writing, really enjoy being a singer. [It] was such a relief and really refreshing to not be sitting in the studio going through all the things that happened to me and affected me. Because I feel things very deeply."

## Release and promotion

On 19 October 2022, Goulding announced the album's title and revealed its artwork cover, with an initial release date of 3 February 2023. However, on 9 January 2023, Goulding announced an initial delay to 24 March, stating "...we've had some exciting opportunities appear behind the scenes." On 28 February, she announced a second delay to 7 April; stating issues with sourcing eco-friendly material for the album's physical formats.
On 31 March, Goulding released the songs "Midnight Dreams", "Cure for Love", "Love Goes On" and "Higher Than Heaven" on digital platforms in conjunction with her appearance on the Amazon Freevee concert film Monumental; making the first 8 tracks of the album available.
On 7 April, the day of the album's release, Goulding released a music video for "Better Man", directed by Tom Sandford.

### Higher Than Heaven Tour

In support of the album, Goulding announced European dates for the Higher Than Heaven Tour: She also announced shows in the United States, accompanied by an orchestra.
Set list This set list is taken from the show at 3Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland on 16 October 2023. It does not represent all shows on this tour.
* "Better Man"
* "Let It Die"
* "Outside"
* "Love Goes On"
* "Power"
* "By the End of the Night"
* "How Deep Is Too Deep"
* "Frozen" (Madonna cover)
* "Halcyon"
* "Starry Eyed"
* "Midnight Dreams"
* "Anything Could Happen"
* "Brightest Blue"
* "Still Falling for You"
* "Lights"
* "Miracle"
* "Joy"
* "Somebody"
* "Higher Than Heaven"
* "Animal"
* "I Need Your Love"
Encore
* "Love Me like You Do"
* "Burn"
Notes
* Starting with the show in Glasgow, Goulding performed a version of "My Blood".
* Starting with the show in Manchester, Goulding performed "Your Song" as part of the encore.
* Starting with the show in Manchester, "By the End of the Night", "Somebody", "Love Goes On" and "Brightest Blue" were removed from the setlist.
* During the shows in Manchester, Birmingham and London, "How Deep Is Too Deep" was not performed.
* During the show in Manchester, "Midnight Dreams" was not performed.
* Starting with the show in Paris, "Let It Die" was removed from the setlist.
* During the shows in Paris, Luxembourg City, Utrecht, Brussels and Milan, "Animal" was not performed.
* During the show in Paris, "Halcyon" was not performed.
* During the show in Milan, Goulding performed a version of "Figure 8" as part of the encore.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 6.7/10 |
| Metacritic | 77/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| The Times | |
| The Daily Telegraph | |
| NME | |
| Evening Standard | |
| Clash Magazine | 7/10 |
Higher Than Heaven received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album received a weighted average score of 77, based on seven reviews - Goulding's highest-rated album of her career. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 6.7 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.
Katie Bain from Billboard praised Goulding decision of "trading straightforward confessions for slick, textural dance pop and lyrical sweet nothings about dim lights and easy lovers", stating that Goulding "delivered one of her best (and most club-friendly) albums to date". As well dubbing Goulding as "one of the defining voices of dance music over the last decade".
Tomás Mier for Rolling Stone praised Goulding decision of making a "fun, escapist pop" record that "remind listeners of Goulding’s pop prowess", instead of going into an introspective route like most of her peers did in recent years.
Higher Than Heaven was named one of the best albums of the year by Rolling Stone, and Billboard, on their mid-year lists.

### Rankings

Critics' rankings of Higher Than Heaven :
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
| AllMusic | The Best Pop Albums of 2023 | Listed |
| Rolling Stone | The Best Albums of 2023 So Far | Listed |
| Pop Passion | 10 Best Pop Albums of 2023 | 10 |
| Billboard | The 50 Best Albums Of 2023 So Far: Staff Picks | Listed |

## Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, Higher Than Heaven debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, shifting 11,818 album-equivalent units in its first week, the lowest of any of her albums. It became Goulding's fourth chart-topping album in the country, tying with Adele as the two British female artists with the most number one albums. In the same week, her single "Miracle", a collaboration with Calvin Harris, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, earning Goulding her first "chart double", although "Miracle" does not feature on Higher Than Heaven. Higher Than Heaven only spent two weeks on the UK Album Charts, becoming her shortest running album, to date. In the second week, the album dropped from number one to number 84 making it one of the few number-one albums to spend only one week in the top 75. In Scotland, the album also debuted at number one on the Scottish Albums Chart, becoming her second chart-topper, and first since Halcyon (2012). The record had a better chart-running staying on the charts from three weeks inside the top 75. Meanwhile, In Ireland, the record became Goulding's lowest charting album to date, and her first effort to miss the top-ten, peaking at number 97 on the Irish Album Chart.
In the United States, Higher Than Heaven debuted at number 125 on the Billboard 200, becoming Goulding's lowest charting effort, to date.

## Track listing

Notes
* signifies a primary and vocal producer
* signifies an additional producer

## Personnel

Musicians
* Ellie Goulding – vocals
* Glen Garth – background vocals (tracks 1, 7); bass guitar, drums, synthesizer (7)
* Phil Garth – background vocals (1, 3); bass guitar, drums, synthesizer (1)
* Stephen Kozmeniuk – bass guitar, drums, synthesizer (1–4, 7); guitar (1–4)
* Maurie Kaufmann – drums (1, 7)
* Andrew Wells – bass guitar, drums, guitar, synthesizer (2, 4, 12, 14); piano (2, 4), flute (4), percussion (12, 14), programming (14), keyboards (16)
* Claude Vause – programming (2)
* Todd Clark – background vocals (3)
* Trey Campbell – background vocals (3)
* Greg Kurstin – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, percussion, synthesizer (5, 6, 10, 13); electric guitar (6, 10)
* Lostboy – bass guitar, drum programming, keyboards, programming (8)
* Big Sean – vocals (6)
* Jesse Shatkin – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, percussion, programming, synthesizer (9)
* Andrew Watt – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, programming (11)
* Happy Perez – keyboards, programming (11)
* Freddy Sheed – drum programming (12)
* Charley Bagnall – synthesizer (12)
* Marco Parisi – bass guitar, keyboards, programming, sound effects (15)
* Giampaolo Parisi – drums, percussion, programming, sound effects, synthesizer (15)
* Ohyes – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming (16)
* João Cruz – guitar (16)
* Bruce Fielder – keyboards, programming (16)
Technical
* Randy Merrill – mastering (1–15)
* One Mix Mastering – mastering, mixing (16)
* Matty Green – mixing (1, 7, 9, 14)
* Serban Ghenea – mixing (2–6, 10–13)
* Lostboy – mixing (8)
* Clem Cherry – engineering (1, 3, 7)
* Jesper Kragh Nielsen – engineering (1, 3, 7)
* Kristian Donaldson – engineering (1, 3, 7)
* Andrew Wells – engineering (2, 4, 12)
* Alex Pasco – engineering (5, 6, 10, 13)
* Greg Kurstin – engineering (5, 6, 10, 13)
* Julian Burg – engineering (5, 6, 10, 13)
* Matt Tuggle – engineering (5, 6, 10, 13)
* Tom Kahre – engineering (6)
* Jesse Shatkin – engineering (9)
* Samuel Dent – engineering (9)
* Andrew Watt – engineering (11)
* Happy Perez – engineering (11)
* Joe Kearns – vocal engineering (6)
* Bryce Bordone – mixing assistance (2–6, 10–13)
* Claude Vause – engineering assistance (2, 4, 12)
* Jon Yeston – engineering assistance (2, 4, 12)
* Dominic Ganderton – engineering assistance (2, 4)
* Luke Gibbs – engineering assistance (12, 14)

## Charts

Chart performance for Higher Than Heaven :
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
| Australian Digital Albums (ARIA) | 15 |
| Australian Physical Albums (ARIA) | 38 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 52 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 5 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 37 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 37 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 86 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 20 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) | 97 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) | 47 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 99 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 28 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 125 |

## Release history

Release history and formats for Higher Than Heaven :
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Edition(s) | Label | Ref. |
| Various | 7 April 2023 | CassetteCDdigital downloadstreamingvinyl | Standard | Polydor | |
| Various | 7 April 2023 | CDdigital downloadstreaming | Deluxe | Polydor | |