What was a nice girl like Ellie Goulding doing getting involved with 50 Shades of Grey? Making pots of cash and hitting No.1 across the globe with a gargantuan power-ballad penned by pop alchemist Max Martin and Swedish singer Tove Lo, among others. Bad move, Leona вЂ“ it couldвЂ™ve been you in your bra, slapping drums at Glastonbury. Believe it or not, this was originally recorded by Leona Lewis, who ditched it for another sappy ballad. Greg Kurstin was involved here too вЂ“ along with OneRepublicвЂ™s Ryan Tedder вЂ“ as Goulding renewed her rave chops from recent Calvin Harris single вЂI Need Your LoveвЂ™ and announced herself as a dance-pop superstar. GouldingвЂ™s breathy voice is made for the multi-track, and her close performance sounds somehow more tangible than the Bon Iver version, the a cappella passages particularly affecting. One of a scoop of covers Goulding recorded before breaking through in 2010, this take on Bon IverвЂ™s вЂFor Emma, Forever AgoвЂ™ track actually dials back on Justin VernonвЂ™s original, and is all the more pretty for it. Only an iTunes bonus track on the original release of GouldingвЂ™s debut of the same name, it shifts from a low bassy thrum вЂ“ think Kelly ClarksonвЂ™s вЂSince U Been GoneвЂ™ вЂ“ to a big, drivetime soft-rock chorus, adding some welcome muscle to GouldingвЂ™s feathery sound for the first time. This is the one that broke America, making it to No.2 on the Billboard chart in 2011, and you can kind of see why.

Whirring clicks give way to polka synths and Soweto-style call-and-response on a song thatвЂ™s supposed to be about kicking yourself for repeated mistakes, but ends up life-affirming. вЂHalcyon DaysвЂ™, one of those fashionable deluxe reissues of recent albums, served up three more singles in 2013, including this collaboration with Lily Allen songwriter/producer Greg Kurstin and fun.

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