Gregory Robson
08/26/09, 01:00 PM
Imogen Heap - Ellipse
Record Label: RCA/Megaphonic
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2009
What can be said about the breathy, reflective British chanteuse Imogen Heap, that hasn't already been written? She's poignant, she's dreamy, she's enigmatic, she's sensual, she's delicate. And that's only skimming the surface. On her third album, Ellipse, the Grammy nominated songwriter once again continues her take on serene, keyboard-fueled, tech-rock, but this time goes for something even more ambitious. Recorded in various locations ––– Japan, Hawaii, Fiji, Thailand, China, England –––Ellipse draws on her continent-hopping travels, making for her most wide-ranging effort to date. Compiled mostly via her own GarageBand software, the album serves as an example of her profound professionalism and her always pristine production work. Her varied subjects include the self-depricating inner diatribe "Bad Body Double," to the post-relationship doldrums on "Wait it Out." A born romantic and a keen observer, Heap flaunts her eye for detail throughout the disc, often revealing her innate ability to break down human interaction to its simplest form. On the xylophone-laced "Little Bird," she chimes, "Orange juice, concentrate, crossword puzzles start to grate," pondering the ho-hum happenstance of everyday life.
As one would expect, the disc is not without its quirky moments. Like an extended member of Bjork's family, Heap seems to do things that veer way left of normal. There's a decidedly Afro-Caribbean arrangement on the syncopated, multi-vocal effort "Earth," and an Asian tinge on the spartan "2-1." Her always obtuse lyrics are once again prone to beffudlement, most especially on "Between Sheets," where she sings "The many windswept stickies of the mind are the molten emotional frontline." Cute rhyme, but what the hell does that mean? And yet for all her pecadillos, she still manages to find a way to be commercial, viable and relatable.
Lead single "First Train Home," features electric beats, a soaring melody and an inviting texture that's ornate and delicate, while the album's second single "Canvas," is a focused study in air-tight production, that features a heavy dose of loops patterned against a veneer of tinkling piano. The ebullient and effusive "Swoon," is a touching ballad on blossoming love, that seems to be a shoe-in for a movie soundtrack. Though she's prone to overusing the vocoder effect, she also knows when to keep it minimal. Proof of this is the affecting closer "Half Life," which may arguably be one of the best song's she's ever released. While there's no runaway single, as there was with 2005's "Hide and Seek," that should not diminish the 13 songs offered here. After all, she had to bid 10 million British pounds to buy back a promotional copy of this disc, after an overzealous phone posted it on E-Bay. Is the disc that good? No. Not really. But it's still something worth celebrating.
A bigger draw in America than her native England, Heap has used social networking sites to maximize her exposure, often posting video podcasts of works in progress, and communicating with fans via message boards. While it's unclear as to whether fan input had anything to do with the making of Ellipse, one thing is for certain, when it comes to bittersweet, wistful, atmospheric melodies, few, if any are better than her. More than eleven years into a career spent writing sedate, melancholic laments, she's as well-established and well-regarded as one could hope for. Long live the bird-nest coif.
1. First Train Home
2. Wait it Out
3. Earth
4. Little Bird
5. Swoon
6. Tidal
7. Between Sheets
8. 2-1
9. Bad Body Double
10. A-Ha!
11. The Fire
12. Canvas
13. Half-Life
Olivia Broadfield, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Bjork, Joydrop
Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/imogenheap)
Website (http://www.imogenheap.com)
Record Label: RCA/Megaphonic
Release Date: Aug. 25, 2009
What can be said about the breathy, reflective British chanteuse Imogen Heap, that hasn't already been written? She's poignant, she's dreamy, she's enigmatic, she's sensual, she's delicate. And that's only skimming the surface. On her third album, Ellipse, the Grammy nominated songwriter once again continues her take on serene, keyboard-fueled, tech-rock, but this time goes for something even more ambitious. Recorded in various locations ––– Japan, Hawaii, Fiji, Thailand, China, England –––Ellipse draws on her continent-hopping travels, making for her most wide-ranging effort to date. Compiled mostly via her own GarageBand software, the album serves as an example of her profound professionalism and her always pristine production work. Her varied subjects include the self-depricating inner diatribe "Bad Body Double," to the post-relationship doldrums on "Wait it Out." A born romantic and a keen observer, Heap flaunts her eye for detail throughout the disc, often revealing her innate ability to break down human interaction to its simplest form. On the xylophone-laced "Little Bird," she chimes, "Orange juice, concentrate, crossword puzzles start to grate," pondering the ho-hum happenstance of everyday life.
As one would expect, the disc is not without its quirky moments. Like an extended member of Bjork's family, Heap seems to do things that veer way left of normal. There's a decidedly Afro-Caribbean arrangement on the syncopated, multi-vocal effort "Earth," and an Asian tinge on the spartan "2-1." Her always obtuse lyrics are once again prone to beffudlement, most especially on "Between Sheets," where she sings "The many windswept stickies of the mind are the molten emotional frontline." Cute rhyme, but what the hell does that mean? And yet for all her pecadillos, she still manages to find a way to be commercial, viable and relatable.
Lead single "First Train Home," features electric beats, a soaring melody and an inviting texture that's ornate and delicate, while the album's second single "Canvas," is a focused study in air-tight production, that features a heavy dose of loops patterned against a veneer of tinkling piano. The ebullient and effusive "Swoon," is a touching ballad on blossoming love, that seems to be a shoe-in for a movie soundtrack. Though she's prone to overusing the vocoder effect, she also knows when to keep it minimal. Proof of this is the affecting closer "Half Life," which may arguably be one of the best song's she's ever released. While there's no runaway single, as there was with 2005's "Hide and Seek," that should not diminish the 13 songs offered here. After all, she had to bid 10 million British pounds to buy back a promotional copy of this disc, after an overzealous phone posted it on E-Bay. Is the disc that good? No. Not really. But it's still something worth celebrating.
A bigger draw in America than her native England, Heap has used social networking sites to maximize her exposure, often posting video podcasts of works in progress, and communicating with fans via message boards. While it's unclear as to whether fan input had anything to do with the making of Ellipse, one thing is for certain, when it comes to bittersweet, wistful, atmospheric melodies, few, if any are better than her. More than eleven years into a career spent writing sedate, melancholic laments, she's as well-established and well-regarded as one could hope for. Long live the bird-nest coif.
1. First Train Home
2. Wait it Out
3. Earth
4. Little Bird
5. Swoon
6. Tidal
7. Between Sheets
8. 2-1
9. Bad Body Double
10. A-Ha!
11. The Fire
12. Canvas
13. Half-Life
Olivia Broadfield, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, Bjork, Joydrop
Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/imogenheap)
Website (http://www.imogenheap.com)