Imogen Heap - Musical Genius.. and One of My Favorites of All Time

For starters, my apologies on not posting much recently.  I wouldn't say I have been busy, just been enjoying some time on vacation.  Vacation from what?  I have no idea, but it's been a blast nonetheless.

I have withheld posting anything about Imogen Heap yet, as I don't really consider her new or obscure.  I am under the impression that the vast majority of the entire world has heard at least one or two of her songs.  However, I cannot express enough what an incredible musician she is, and what an influence she has had on my musical taste.  I almost find myself comparing everyone to her, in terms of whether I like another artists songs as much as I like Immy's work.

I remember seeing her in Chicago a few years ago, and it was without a doubt the most personalized and sonically complex show I have ever been to.  She was even sick at the time with strep-throat or the flu or something of the like, and if she didn't perform a song up to her standards she would start over and re-sing the whole thing.  I was BLOWN AWAY at how incredible her vocals were.  She has by far one of the most pure voices I have ever heard, and her vocal range is almost alien it is so insane.  She could probably cover every octave on an entire piano if she were asked to.  I remember someone remarking that they thought she sounded too produced.  I can completely understand that viewpoint, but I have heard her live, and I am completely serious when I say she sounds exactly like the album live.  She is never sharp, never flat, never even remotely close to off-key.  It is literally... insane.

Like the rest of humanity I became aware of her when her track Let Go was featured in the movie Garden State.  I remember being absolutely amazed at what I was hearing, and then of course how perfectly matched it was given the emotional temperament of the actual scene in the movie.  At the time, she was part of a trip-hop duo with Guy Sigsworth called Frou Frou, and I immediately got a hold of that album and listened to it straight for a year, maybe more.

Later she released her solo albums, and her songs were famously featured on some episodes of The O.C.  So it wasn't like the rest of the world didn't notice her.  She has become somewhat of a youtube sensation in her journal style posts of creating her Ellipse album.  She is just a straight up incredible musician and sound technician.  If you haven't seen some of her youtube stuff, you might want to check it out just to get an idea of the creative process that these artists go through... it is fascinating.

She is a bit quirky and she has a strange style about her, but she is an incredible poet as well.  If you listen to her lyrics it really is quite impressive. She is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell in her ability with words, and her use of metaphor is very strong.  Nothing she writes sounds trite, and yet she sings so much about love and relationships.  The fact that you can be original about a subject that is so unoriginal in music is I guess a testament. 

I want to go ahead and highlight some of my favorites to keep this piece moving, as I could probably write a ton more about her.


LET GO
Not sure how I cannot include the song that opened the door in the first place.  As I stated above, this song was created by Imogen and Guy Sigsworth on their Frou Frou duo album.  It is just a crushingly beautiful song.

PSYCHOBABBLE

Though a somewhat dark and violent level of subject matter, I think this song is just incredible.  It is again off of the Frou Frou album, and has been one of my favorites from the beginning. 

 


ONLY GOT ONE
My final favorite from the Frou Frou album, and one of the most amazing on the album.  This is not to say the rest of the album isn't as good, because it most definitely is.  It is of course a complete album and one that has a TON of replay value.

 

Her followup album was a solo album in which she produced all the music and did a vast majority of the instrumentation as well.  It was entitled Speak for Yourself.


JUST FOR NOW
Umm... this is absolutely gorgeous.  If you want vintage Imogen, this is the one to hear.  I heard this live and it almost caused a mind melt.  I actually recall that she started this particular song over, because she wasn't satisfied with the high-note she sang.




HAVE YOU GOT IT IN YOU
This is another amazingly beautiful song, and another one that I have listened to a thousand times over.





I AM IN LOVE WITH YOU
This is a bit of a departure in that it is a bit more upbeat than most of her work.  I think it has some very compelling percussion work, and some of the harmonies are mind-blowing.




CLOSING IN
Another impeccable display of her artistry.  I love how many levels there are to everything she does.  It is really impressive work.




THE MOMENT I SAID IT
This is an absolutely gorgeous song.  It is rather sad and slow, but the harmonization she uses near the end of the song is enough to blow your mind.  Her vocals in this song are unmatched.




As I said, the entire album is ridiculously good, but I am only highlighting the songs I could listen to a billion times and never get sick of.

Next on the docket is her Ellipse album which is the most recent.  This was an album that was heavily anticipated after her work on Speak for Yourself.  I actually started to grow impatient, simply because I was dying to hear it.

CANVAS
 Don't really know what to tell you if you aren't impressed by this song.  I think this is probably my favorite off of the album.




2-1
Another favorite off of the Ellipse album, and another fascinating piece of art.




LITTLE BIRD
A downtempo and seemingly simplistic tune that slowly builds and develops into a truly complex and gorgeous song.




Once again, the entire album is off the charts genius and every song she has is amazing.  I would recommend to anyone and everyone that they buy everything this lady ever puts out.  Imogen is usually considered to be more of an act that attracts female listeners, but I can attest it speaks to everyone.

She actually has released a small single as of late called Propeller Seeds which I was pretty impressed with.  It is a very light and somewhat upbeat piece.  I feel like its a little quiet, and doesn't have as much meat as some of her other works, but it is a really good song either way.  So that is to say that she hasn't lost her touch...

PROPELLER SEEDS
Yessir.




All in all, Immy is one of, if not my favorite artist of all time.  She is just so good.. and so good consistently.  I am dying to hear a new album from her here soon, but I don't know if it is in the cards.  I guess we will just have to see...

MINOR UPDATE

Apparently she has released the first track from her fourth album that is in the works.  This track is called Lifeline... very solid track.

Lifeline by imogenheap

Thanks for stopping in.

-CS