Imogen Heap - Ellipse
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Free Music Notes for Ellipse
Free Music Review: Awesome, just as I expected
Hit: 5 Stars
Been following Imogen Heap for some time now and as always, I love this CD.Free Music Review: Echo game
Hit: 4 Stars
Imogen Heap doesn't need any introduction anymore -- she's the vocal half of Frou Frou, and the pop genius behind "Speak For Yourself." And her third album "Ellipse" demonstrates why she's a permanent presence on my "must-buy" list -- Heap still has a strong husky voice, a knack for writing brilliant pop music ("Dead in the stare of a thousand miles"), and lush and quirky instrumentation.
"Bodies disengaged, our mouths are fleshing over/Is this an echo game?" Heap murmurs over a bed of gentle beats, subtle guitar and shimmering keyboard. The song swells into a sweet, slightly desperate melody, lamenting that "I want to run in fields, paint the kitchen, and love someone/And I can't do any of that here, can I?" and her desperation to take the "first train home."
Then Heap smoothly slides into the dreamlike softness of "Wait It Out," with its brief blazes of electric guitar, and the playfully angular warmth of "Earth" ("Act like you own the place/when really you've only just arrived"). Among the songs that follow: soft electronica-tinged ballads, flickering piano pop, mournful xylophone pop, and funky and/or angular electronica with a sly edge.
The highlight is "Aha!", which is also the most sinisterly pretty song on the album -- lotsa cascading crystalline pop and swathes of dark strings. And Heap gets downright weird in a couple of the songs -- "2-1" is a weirdly uneven, clattery epic that sweeps through empty musical space, while the loopy rambling style of "Bad Body Double" is both engaging and bizarre.
"Ellipse" is the sound of an artist who has found her unique musical niche, and is now polishing it to gemlike brilliance -- it has much the same sound as "Speak For Yourself," but it's a little darker and more wistful. The music washes you away like the nighttime sea, as the lyrics sow stories of melancholy and love in your brain.
Heap's instrumentation has definitely become more polished with time -- she relies a lot on her piano and the satiny violin solos; but there are little shreds of harp, xylophone, and flickers of electric guitar here and there. And the whole album is draped in synth -- her synth is usually smooth and swirling, but sometimes it becomes spiky, tinkly or dancy. All together, it's nothing short of exquisite.
The downsides of this album? "The Fire" feels like so much tinkly filler, and I can't quite make up my mind whether "2-1" is a brilliantly daring ant atmospheric song, or an uneven mess.
But Heap's vocals haven't lost any of their beauty -- husky, strong and powerful -- and she uses more vocorder to add extra drama to her songs. And her songs have become more oblique in their writing ("The gardens wearing haute couture" -- really?), but she can still infuse simple sentiments with power ("The more you lose the less you see/so close your eyes and start to breathe/Oh you said yourself/ this wasn't easy...").
"Ellipse" is an album full of different shapes, different sounds, and different feelings -- and it shows the further evolution of Imogen Heap's exquisite music. If you don't hear this, you'll regret it.
Free Music Review: An Immediate, Thoughtful and Adventurous Release
Hit: 4 Stars
I became a fan of Immi with Frou Frou's Details (and then I Megaphone), and when Speak for Yourself came out it took me a long time to get into it. For whatever reason, I just wasn't feeling it. I thought Goodnight and Go was too light and I just couldn't find my way into the rest emotionally. I liked it... but that was it. But about a year after it came out... I got it. I just pushed play to try it out again and I became enthralled. It's like this whole world was whizzing past me and I almost missed it. I love SFY now. I can't imagine why I didn't right at the start. I think that is what makes something like this so hard. Music is not only a personal creation (well, when it's done well) but it's also a very personal listening experience as well.
With Ellipse, I loved it right away. Maybe because my love for SFY was so great, but also because it's just an amazing album.
I have listened to the album almost non-stop since it's release. In fact, today was the first day I actually started to listen to the lovely Anna Ternheim album Leaving on a Mayday that I got shortly before Ellipse came out because Imogen would not let go of my iPhone! I'll admit I do skip two tracks on occasion - Earth and Between Sheets. It's not so much that I dislike them so much as I'm impatient to get to the track right after them at times.
I do think that Ellipse is perhaps a slightly less weighted album. Overall it just seems to have a lighter touch then SFY until the very end when 2-1/The Fire/Canvas/Half Life close out the album. And I'm not talking about lighter/heavier emotional content... it's more the style that's a bit brighter and bolder and lighter. Ellipse has a very natural progression whereas SFY tended to bounce a bit more from place to place. I think Ellipse is more reflective and therefore doesn't quite reach the highs of SFY. I don't think that's a bad thing because I think it errs on the side of being more thoughtful overall. To me, Ellipse sacrifices a little bit of the energy to spend a little more time on what it's trying to say.
That's a long way to say.... thinking of this as a better/worse situation doesn't really work for me. Rather, I think of them as two different flavors. It's like chocolate chip mint and butter pecan. Two flavors of ice cream I like very much for different reasons because they have their own unique strengths.
Free Music Review: A terrific, unique album
Hit: 4 Stars
How I wanted to give this album five stars! Its dense, interesting timbric palette, great tunes, and Imogen's always-stellar vocals make it one of the best albums I've heard all year.
And I realize that when you're as big a fan as I am of "Speak For Yourself," Imogen's previous album, there's some danger of judging the new work on the older work's terms, which isn't fair if the new work represents a significant (and good) change in artistic direction. (I'm not sure "Ellipse" represents that, but it certainly strikes me as a step forward in her technique as an arranger and producer.)
The only thing is, as Immi said herself (lyrically) in her Frou Frou days, music needs to "make a complete stranger cry," and while for me the song "Wait It Out" comes close, for some reason none of the songs on "Ellipse" pick me up and shake me quite as hard as "Just For Now," "The Walk," and "The Moment I Said It" (all on "Speak For Yourself") still do.
Which is not to say "Ellipse" is anything but a terrific album. "First Train Home," "Wait it Out," "Aha," and "Tidal" stand out especially, as first-rate songs with unparalleled singing and highly original orchestrations that stick with you. My whole life I've sought electronic music this good, and very seldom found it -- Imogen Heap really is in class by herself.
So in summary, please don't fixate on my 4-not-5-star rating and my not-quite-tear-induced reaction; do yourself a favor and check out this album, and if you really want a treat, see Imogen Heap in concert at the earliest opportunity. (She's a brilliant performer, and always selects unexpectedly great opening acts.) "Ellipse" is another remarkable effort by a completely unique songwriter and singer, one who may, I'm convinced, be on the verge of greatness.
Free Music Review: No Eclipse On This Ellipse
Hit: 4 Stars
Imogen does present an ellipse of a smooth complete closed curve on varying axes in the shapes, the color, and timbre of sounds. This is an enjoyable album I must admit. I am glad the academy has acknowledge Imogen's work by granting her with an award, which I felt she deserved more on her previous effort on Speak For Yourself.
"First Train Home" her chorus and feel reminds me of Donna Lewis "I Love You Always Forever" but a grand ride in it sound. The other tracks are very Imogen like where she is able to put the right elements into her songs and her vocals continue to improve when she performs live. Her lyrics are fun as in "Bad Body Double" and delivers sweet classical influences in her style as she sings.
Imogen is an an excellent example of how today's music is done mostly on computer software produced sounds and the use of keyboard synthesizers. There are other artist who take advantage of these software tools as well, but Imogen does it in such a way that sounds fresh and pleasurable but not pop influenced to reach a targeted audience. The creative process, technique and approach is what I credit Imogen the most as an artist.
If your not a Imogen fan already she is a very good alternative to what you may be listening to presently. Her early collaborative work in Frou Frou should not be ignored in her contributions. Calm and Bright...just what we need more from an artist. Add this album to your music collection. No dark eclipse on this Ellipse...