WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LOST.

Our love for Ellie Goulding is well documented in these pages, yet she continues to blow our minds with each new offering put forth. This time around it’s another cover, as Ms. Goulding has a go at Bon Iver‘s “Wolves (Act I and II)” and reminds everyone that though she may be a synth-pop starlet by day, she’s still an acoustic singer-songwriter by trade.

One of the most revered tracks off his 2008 debut For Emma, Forever Ago, “Wolves” was one of the the record’s most awe-inspiring moments, a lesson in visceral, gutwrenching emotion as Justin Vernon challenges a lost lover to deliver the coup de grâce of their failed relationship: “swing wide your crane/and run me through”. Ellie’s done the unthinkable and managed to match Vernon blow for blow here, keeping the sparse minimalism and haunting mood of Bon Iver’s original intact while adding her own heavensent vocals and beautiful layered harmonies to the track. Rarely do we find ourselves getting all starry-eyed over an off-the-cuff cover track, but this… this is different. This is shock and awe, people, and we’re still reeling.

MP3: “The Wolves” – Ellie Goulding [exclusive]