I first fell in love with Imogen Heap when she was part of the musical group Frou Frou in 2002 & 2003. Their song Let Go, which was on the Garden State soundtrack remains one of my favorite songs of all time.
When I talked to family and friends about Imogen, no one recognized her name, but everyone knew her songs. She has a very unique and beautiful voice, and I can now say that I think Imogen is probably one of the better performers I’ve ever seen before.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect going into her show. I knew her songs, but I’d never seen her perform online or live. When she hit the stage wearing hammer pants (seriously) and lots of feathers in her hair I knew she would be different. She was – and it was absolutely BRILLIANT.
Troy Kujala shot these pictures at the concert, and they capture her essence so beautifully. She was such a charismatic performer, the pictures bring her to life online. (To see other concerts Troy’s shot, go here)
I’m so happy to have seen her perform. She is hilarious and engaging, and ridiculously talented. The musical talent she has is absolutely breathtaking. She mixes and creates songs right before your eyes. Every song is a living creature, she creates each sound – each beat herself! (She’s wearing microphones at her wrists to capture every sound)
On Ellipse, her latest album, Imogen pulls out all the stops. Her songs First Train Home and Little Bird are my absolute favorites. I’d love to hear what your favorites are!
32-year-old Imogen Heap is a Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter from Romford, Havering. She is well known for her work with Frou-Frou and her solo albums which she mixes, writes and produces. In 2006 Heap was nominated for 2 Grammys. 2009′s Ellipse earned Heap 2 Grammy nominations, and she won one for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
For her solo work (as well as her work with Frou Frou ), Heap specializes in heavily produced and arranged singer-songwriter pop incorporating elements of rock, dance and electronica. In a 2005 interview, she commented “I just love crafting and shaping sounds. Actually, many of the sounds that I work with start off as organic instruments – guitar, piano, clarinet, etc. But I do love the rigidity of electronic drums… I would record live drums, and then I would spend a day editing them to take the life out of them. I like to breathe my own life into these sounds, and I do try to keep the ‘air’ in the music. Some people think electronic music is cold, but I think that has more to do with the people listening than the actual music itself.”
Heap also mixes ambient sound into her music where appropriate: “One night I decided to record my boyfriend and me eating dinner. I wanted to get the sound of the room. So, on “Clear the Area”, for example, you can actually hear the sound of a frying pan. People might think it sounds like rain, but it’s a frying pan. Certain sounds give the music a width and a space, and that’s important.”
Heap states that her song lyrics come from personal experience, but are encoded rather than being straightforwardly confessional. She has commented “Most of the time, the lyrics are kind of like my secret messages to my friends or my boyfriend or my mum or my dad. I would never tell them that these songs are about them or which specific lyric is about somebody. Often, when I sit down to write a lyric, it is in the heat of the moment, and something has just happened.”
Imogen is still touring. You need to see if she’s coming to town near you. If she is, YOU HAVE TO GO SEE HER! She is amazing!
BUY ELLIPSE HERE!!
Tour information
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