Perfect Albums :: Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself

I think I have mentioned Imogen on my blog before, but I am now getting around to letting you in on a little non-secret: Imogen Heap is flippin' fantastic. I was first introduced through the song "Let Go" by her duo Frou Frou, which was featured on one of those ABCBSMSNBC network shows I never watched in college, but my roommate had the song and I liked it. I think that's how that went down. Anyway, her voice grabbed me; I happened upon Speak For Yourself and bought it and was floored. So I read some more about Miss Heap, expecting my elevated opinions to be dashed when I found out she was a product of 8 producers, 35 co-writers, and was discovered on British Idol or something (did I mention she's British? That makes her even cooler). But NO! Imogen WRITES her own music, PLAYS her own music, and PRODUCES her own music. Be still my do-it-yourself heart. She probably grows her own coffee beans and roasts them to perfection, too. (That's just me speculating, though). Here's Imogen on Letterman performing "Goodnight and Go" with her "band": I'll admit...I'm not really sure what type of genre you'd put Imogen in...maybe a electronica-singer-songwriter-pop-rock one. Close enough. She uses the power of various instruments and gadgets like Macs and looping stations and synthesizers and keyboards...and creates orchestras on stage. I saw her live last year here in Austin, and it was pretty impressive. She's got a grand piano fitted with a keyboard that has each key wired to a particular light in the piano body (did I mention this thing is made of clear plexi-glass?) so the whole piano lights up accordingly when she plays. Dang. I'm just happy when a string doesn't break. Anyway, this is all superflous to the album itself. Speak for Yourself holds its own. Tracks like "Headlock" and "The Walk" start off all mellow-like and lull you until she smacks you with some synth-y beat that somehow matches your pulse and enhances it. Imogen's music has the good quality of ingraining itself and impacting you on a purely rhythmic basis. Her lyrics are dang cool...but it took me a long time to even pay attention to them because I was so distracted by the sonic landscapes she creates. What this woman does with a keyboard and her voice is amazing. Check the video for Headlock: Excellent example of the smackdown on the chorus, just when you thought you had the vibe of the song figured out. Good writing lessons, all. Roight. So now I'm going to 'ave a cuppa tea and recommend that you take a gander at Imogen's vLog...yes, a video blog...about building her studio for her new album. It's up at ImogenHeap.co.uk. Fun times, perfect record.