|
|
|
Imogen Heap - Ellipse
| Allmusic. |
| It took seven years for Imogen Heap to follow her debut album I Megaphone with her breakthrough Speak for Yourself (during which time Heap was in Frou Frou with Guy Sigsworth), so the four-year gap between it and its follow-up, Ellipse, feels relatively short. Speak for Yourself's stunning single "Hide and Seek" took on a life of its own, partly thanks to its use in a crucial scene in the teen drama The O.C., but mostly because it was so spare and bittersweet: Heap's heavily processed vocals became more affecting because of those effects. That sound was so distinctive, it would have been easy for Heap to fall into the trap of trying to recapture that magic. Instead, Ellipse is some of her most wide-ranging work, physically and musically speaking. Heap recorded the album in locations ranging from Hawaii, Fiji, and Thailand to her home studio; while only a few songs feel overtly globe-trotting, like "2-1"'s slightly Eastern melody and the eco-conscious "Earth"'s African-tinged arrangement, Ellipse's well-traveled origins are revealed in the immediacy and urgency of its songs. Heap has a gift for crystallizing unique emotions in her music, and that's especially true of "Little Bird," which contrasts slightly dark meditations on everyday life ("Orange juice, concentrate/Crossword puzzles start to grate") with the musical equivalent of sunbeams, and "Between Sheets," which mixes romantic bliss and bubbly electronics so completely, it suggests her bed might be on a spaceship. Heap takes listeners on a tour of characters and attitudes far more eclectic than her previous albums, from "Bad Body Double"'s sassy rant about a copycat to "Wait it Out"'s breakup aftermath. Throughout it all, she never loses the slight oddness that makes her music so distinctive, whether she describes pulling away from a kiss as "mouths are fleshing over" on "First Train Home," scatters electronic blips and flute wisps through "Tidal," or makes "Aha!" witchy and mischievous enough to appear in a Tim Burton film. Soft but far from sedate, Ellipse might not have a single moment as arresting as "Hide and Seek," but it's some of Heap's most engaging work....full text |
|
|
| Allmusic |
| When a copy of Imogen Heap’s third solo album leaked onto eBay, furious fans protested by bidding the item up to a site-record $20 million. A hefty price tag, to be sure, but “Ellipse’’ at the very least proves worthy of your $9.99 on iTunes. The follow-up to the former Frou Frou frontwoman’s 2005 release, “Speak for Yourself,’’ features more immaculately produced, harmony-drenched electro-pop, from the pulsing single “First Train Home’’ to the kinetic two-step of “Swoon.’’ The overwhelming success of the a cappella “Hide and Seek’’ has not been lost on Heap, who seamlessly loops her voice on tracks like the effervescent “Earth.’’ The album is saddled with the occasional bombastic number: The strings-drenched “2-1’’ finds Heap intoning melodramatically about “pinning all your hopes on the top dog of dreams.’’ Mostly, though, “Ellipse’’ delivers an inventive yet intimate batch of laptop-pop gems. Even when Heap abandons the Pro Tools, as on the delicate piano ballad “Half Life,’’ she displays an impeccable ear for gorgeous melodies and elegant arrangements. Ellipses usually signify that there’s more to come; “Ellipse’’ simply confirms that Heap has arrived. (Out tomorrow) -- ADAM CONNER-SIMONS...full text |
|
|
| Slantmagazine |
|
Imogen Heap makes music that is, in a sense, contradictory. On one level, her offerings are fluttering and polished—slick, futuristic stuff that's put together with various software plug-ins and effects programs, seemingly for the explicit purpose of accompanying a highly urbane car commercial. At the same time, the eclectic Londoner's songs are often unique bursts of vision—set pieces for a quaint, dreamy world that only she can imagine. In other words, Heap is the Tim Burton of music: at times painfully mainstream and derivative, and yet eternally loyal to a vision of her own making. Like Speak for Yourself before it, Heap's third studio album, Ellipse, often breaks, screeches to a halt, recalibrates, and then finds its beat again, all while its songstress frolics above the vocoderized chaos. But the record is much better off when all the effect-laden squeaks are abandoned for pure rhythmic expression. The haunting, minimalist immediacy of "Little Bird" finds Heap at her best, playfully contrasting the harsh beauty of her voice off a flood of synth xylophones and mellow, digital ambience. Likewise, the syncopated euphoria of "Earth" will lead Björk fans to wonder whether the schizophrenic Volta should have sounded this blissful, if not for Timbaland's blatant rubber-stamp production....full text |
|
|
Go to "Imogen Heap " lyrics