Happy 'HALCYON' Day! ELLIE GOULDING's brand new [best] album [of the year] has finally been released, and we would like you to join in with us listening to 'Halcyon' on repeat... all day.

Of her new album, Goulding says: "The biggest change that has happened is that I don't feel that I need to impress people or justify the things I do. It would be mental if now, at this point, I was still apologising for myself, which is something my manager used to tell me off for doing. I've got to the stage where I see that I can believe in myself, and that I can have a feeling of self-worth about my music."

She continues: "There was a period where everything felt stale. I wasn't writing, I wasn't reading, I wasn't taking anything from the experiences I was having. Usually I can walk down the street and just absorb everything; but there will also be times where there is this complete block, and that's how I felt. And then when my relationship broke up, that all suddenly changed, I went to the countryside and just wrote and wrote. I had to make a decision in my head to close off one thing and open another. Once I did that, I realised how much I had to write about."

Click HERE to read our [advance] 'Halcyon' album review.

Some reading/watching/pictorial material for you on this celebratory 'Halcyon' Day, follows below...

#1. Ellie was an adorable kid.

#2. Ellie can beatbox! Listen out for 1:11 in the below video...

#3. At the age of nine, Ellie started learning how to play the clarinet, before teaching herself how to play the guitar. She says: "I love classical music and I would love to play in an orchestra. But by itself [the clarinet is] kind of grating. And I played it for years. Then I was like, ‘No, I’m done with clarinet and I’m going to play guitar.’ I self-taught, I’m self-taught at guitar."

#4. Ellie is just as clumsy as I am. Segway tumblers, are us.

#5. If Ellie had a pet unicorn she would name it 'Rainbow'.

#6. In a school production, Ellie played The Scarecrow in 'The Wizard Of Oz'.

#7. Ellie prefers Justin Bieber, to Justin Timberlake. Also his girlfriend Selena Gomez I assume, as pictured below.

#8. One of Ellie's favourite authors is Haruki Murakami. She says: “He writes about sex and passion, murder - really dark things, but then he kind of intertwines it with really beautiful imagery. He does ultra marathons and the dark thoughts when he is in the worst pain provide some of the best material for his books. I suffer panic attacks which has made me really conscious about my fitness and I have become addicted to jogging. It might sound odd but a lot of good has come out of it. My fans send letters saying they have taken up jogging because I do it."

#9. Ellie is better at interviewing, than most music journalists. Ellie G + Jessie J...

...also this...

#10. Ellie + Skrillex = cute couple! She says: "...They ask if I’ve copied his hair too but I had mine first! I just met someone, fell in love with them and that’s it. He’s my guy and he influences me but only in the way that any boyfriend would influence a girl. As for me influencing him, I read somewhere that I made him feel more secure. That was really nice. I felt a little bit like, ‘Ah’ because he’s never said that to me. I think we’ve just been really good for each other and we motivate each other. His lifestyle in general is pretty mental. He’s in a different place every day and at parties, but I’m very happy."

ELLIE GOULDING's new album 'Halcyon' is out now! Watch Ellie performing her next single 'Figure 8' live below...