Imogen Heap - Ellipse (13 tracks) +Album Reviews

Imogen does it again

Nathan Beauchamp | Oak Park, IL USA | 08/26/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Describing Imogen Heap as an eclectic and talented musician is akin to saying Michal Jordan was a pretty good basketball player: a vast understatement. Since her days as the front woman for Frou Frou, Imogen has done nothing but grow as an artist, vocalist, and composer. With an uncanny, near perfect-pitch voice, classically trained musical skills, and the ability to give electronic riffs evocative emotion, she is without equal in her field.

Ellipse is proof that she continues to grow and learn, something that prodigies don't always do--sometimes it's easy for them to just coast. Not so for Imogen: if Speak for Yourself was both beautiful, nerdy, witty, and occasionally wantonly silly, Ellipse is nearly all of those things with the exception of silly; it is melancholic, yearning, sad, haunting, and ultimately lovely and satisfying on several different levels. It's great pop music if that's what you're looking for, but it's also a complete artistic work that pays off the careful listener. Imogene's song writing has always been about the revealing moments of life, and Ellipse has the same focus, deftly portraying homesickness, lost love, the power of art, etc., all set to her particular brand of homespun indie electronica and sung lovingly.

Ellipse is not significantly different from SPEAK FOR YOURSELF in either a good or negative sense. It shows progression and perhaps even a maturing, but ultimately it's Imogen doing what she was born to do: tell stories through song with electronic beats and synth sensibilities. The result is an album that is easy to embrace for new and old fans alike, and one of the most unique and desirable releases of 2009.

5/5 Star. Fantastic music. A must buy."

Intricate, fragile, genius

DM | Melbourne, Australia | 08/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I heard Imogen Heap's name was as songwriter for Way Out West's 'Mind Circus' a few years back - a melodic pop/breaks masterpiece at the time - but only discovered her all-round brilliance as an artist more recently.

Once I realised that she was also the production and engineering brains behind her own material I was even more intrigued and compelled - so quickly tracked down all I could find, gobbling up the Frou Frou album (created in tandem with the equally brilliant Guy Sigsworth - check out Alanis Morissette's 'Flavors Of Entanglement' for more of that production goodness) and 'Speak For Yourself' as soon as I could get my hands on them.

Both albums were chock-full of melodic and lyric invention coupled with detailed, layered electronic production - all of which revealed themselves further with repeated listening.

'Ellipse' is no exception. The first couple of hearings let the bigger hooks and general feel of the songs seep into your brain - one brain and 2 ears can only take so much in at once. But once you allow yourself to really get to know the material it reveals more and more layers of production and Imogen's melodies gradually untangle themselves like intricate puzzles, until eventually your head is swimming with the melodies and lyrics. And you can't wait to listen again, to learn more...

A number of online reviews have been lukewarm - and I can understand how this might be. Until you immerse yourself in the detail, the overall effect might seem middle-of-the-road or Enya-esque. But such reductions do the material an enormous disservice as there is WAY more going on in there than initially meets the ear.

Simultaneously melancholic and uplifting (that magical alchemy), this is pop - but it's the trickiest pop you're gonna hear for a while. If you're into that kinda thing :)"

Something is missing.

Adam | Maine | 09/05/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After creating one of the best albums of the 00's, the stunning "Speak For Yourself", Imogen Heap's follow-up formula is unsolvable on Ellipse. Gone are the urgent, layered soundscapes. Instead, the (still) most talented songwriter on the planet delivers interesting compositions, but with 2D production. Excluding "First Train Home", the magnificent, but out-of-place opener, Ellipse feels, well, elliptical in comparison to what we know Ms. Heap is capable of. That is to say the overall sound is squashed- a compressed retread of the genius that preceeded it; as if Heap took the fulfulling sphere of "Speak For Yourself" and forced it into an uncomfortable shape.

Just a few great moments rescue Ellipse from a below-average rating: the previously mentioned "First Train Home", a fantastic bridge in "Swoon", and the start-to-finish gem "Half Life". The remainders, while compositionally satisfying, just don't deliver the sonic drama promised by each of the previous Imogen Heap/Frou Frou releases.

Imogen Heap is an undeniable vocal talent, but without the crisp and complex sonic production, the circle is not complete. Yet even after the mild disappointment of Ellipse, I can't wait to hear what Imogen Heap offers next."

An Immediate, Thoughtful and Adventurous Release

Jon Huff | IL United States | 09/12/2009

(4 out of 5 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."

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