Review: Imogen Heap - "Ellipse"
The Latest from the Premier Singer-Songwriter of British Electronica
Sep 8, 2009
If you've ever seen "The O.C.," "So You Think You Can Dance," or "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," "The Holiday," or "Just Like Heaven," you have heard Imogen Heap.
Known in the United States primarily for her songs for television and film, Heap has built an international following for her albums (1998's iMegaphone, 2005's Speak for Yourself, and, with partner Guy Sigsworth as the band "Frou Frou," 2002's Details) and her live concerts, in which she blends computer-based tracks and loops with live instrumentation and soaring vocal melodies.
Pro Tools Perfection, with Personality
Heap is a production perfectionist, working tirelessly in her home studio (known as "The Hideaway") in Essex, England, to produce multi-layered vocals and programmed beats and keyboard tracks, then meld them seamlessly with live drums, guitars, strings, and other, often more quirky instruments.
All of that comes to bear on "Ellipse," her third, full-length solo release. (Heap chronicled the two-year-long recording of this album in a series of 40 video blogs, available on YouTube.)
Featuring thirteen songs (48 minutes), Ellipse is Heap's most mature album to date. There are few echoes of iMegaphone. Instead, this is the next logical step after Speak for Yourself, where Heap herself is again completely in charge -- serving as producer, engineer, songwriter, and, on most instruments, the sole performer. (She is a trained classical pianist.)
The result is meticulously programmed and flawlessly produced in Pro Tools. But it is also surprisingly organic and personal, with high-tech synths and beats alongside sounds Heap recorded around her home and in the fields outside.
With Heap's supreme attention to production detail, it's easy to overlook something even more significant: her lyrics. She is a poet, which means her songs will likely mean different things to different listeners.
Unique Songs, Unique Singing
No matter how personal they might be for her ("First Train Home," "Bad Body Double," "Between Sheets") her lyrics are relatable, like a conversation with a very close friend who nonetheless sees the world from her own unique perspective.
And Heap delivers those lyrics in an equally unique style, with melodies apparently unconstrained by typical note choices. They are free-flowing and, often, beautiful. But they are also entirely her own. It's hard to imagine anyone else being able to sing these songs so smoothly and with such apparent effortlessness.
Only one track doesn't feature Heap's vocals at all. "The Fire" is a sparse piano instrumental, set against the snap-crackle background of a small bonfire built in the artist's own yard.
Stand-Out Singles
For those wishing to sample before committing to a full album purchase, stand-out tracks include:
- "First Train Home"
- "Earth" (an a cappella marvel)
- "Tidal"
- "Bad Body Double"
- "Aha!"
- "Canvas"
If anything is lacking here, it is the harder-edged sounds that drove some of iMegaphone's best material (particularly "Getting Scared"). Heap doesn't really rock here, although there are brief flashes that serve to spice things up.
For fans of more beat-driven electronica, it should also be said that Heap doesn't write the kind of electronica that typically fills dance floors (although "Earth" should get heads bobbing). Instead, Ellipse is an album to really listen to and savor. While it won't move your feet very much, it will move your soul.
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