Ellie Goulding recognizes the precariousness of having a single that's currently at No. 2 of the U.S. Hot 100, but not among the tracks set to appear on the album she's releasing in two months' time.

"It's definitely weird and not necessarily a good thing, but I guess you can't moan about it," admits the 25-year-old singer-songwriter, whose opulent title track to her 2010 debut, "Lights," has firmly solidified its status as a surprise smash in recent weeks. But one day after "Lights" climbed into the runner-up spot on the Hot 100, Goulding unveiled "Anything Could Happen," a shimmering new single that previews her sophomore album, "Halcyon," due out Oct. 9 in the U.S.

As the singer-songwriter finished up "Halcyon," the title track to "Lights" kept growing in the U.S., despite being released as the sixth single from Goulding's debut album and receiving a music video that premiered in January 2011. Seventeen months after that video premiere, "Lights" rose into the Top 10 of the Hot 100 in its 27th week last June, completing the longest ascent to the region in the chart's history for a song by a female that was not aided by crossover airplay from country to pop radio.

So how did "Lights" become a stateside smash? Goulding has no idea. "Nobody expected it and that's the truth," she says. "I'll say to my manager, 'So, how did "Lights" get so big?' Because it's not a song that I wrote thinking, 'This is a smash hit.' I wrote the song because I wanted to write it and I wanted it on the record and when it was finished I was like, 'Yeah, this is a cool song, it's an Ellie Goulding song and my heart is with it.' So we had it as a bonus track on the first record and it's just kind of gone mental! I don't know why, because I never saw it as an obvious Top Five American song. I never imagined that at all."

http://www.billboard.com/features/el...xS4Z0rOqA73.99

Im so happy she is blowing up, or rather, her song is. She is great.

i didn't expect this either. it's actually my least favourite song of hers by a mile. it flopped here in the UK.

Hopefully Ellie can use this momentum for Halycon

She needs to put Lights on the US editions of it

she deserves it

yea either this or push the next album back, lights needs to run its course or it'll interfere with anything from the new album

It also hit #1 on CHR today. Congrats!

i love the song, she's so sweet and humble.

I can't stand these "superior artists" that try to pretend a hit single is something bad.

So tell me, why the hell do you sell records? Just for fun?

She isn't saying it's a bad thing, she's saying she never expected it to be a smash because it was a last minute addition/bonus track.

Just put "Lights" on the US edition.

I hope she does good in the long run

Alright. Time to put the song on her new album. I mean, seriously, it could help her become bigger in the U.S.

By the way, I love "Lights". My local station plays it all the time.

She is so humble and likable

How did this flop in the UK? Ridiculous. This song is amazing, just like the rest of her album.

She definitely deserves the #1, not Carly or Flo

I'm so glad for the success this song is getting. I've loved this song from day one and for it to become Top 2 in the U.S. is just amazing. I still remember its radio run was long and hard. But in the end, Lights deserved it.

It would be wise for Ellie to put Lights on the US edition of her new album. That would help her in the long run.

She seemed kind of ungrateful in the first part of the interview.

She's humble and honest, nobody expected to be this big, I remember when I listened, it was into my top 5 of songs by her.

Ever since Wide Awake didn't hit number 1, these Katy stans are doing the most

Lights deserves to smash and hit #1 a lot ****ing more than the blowjob song, so I'm happy for her. Weird how it randomly took off though, the song is quite old.