Imogen Heap - Ellipse

On the 24th/25th of August (region specific dates), Imogen Heap will release her third solo album. Ellipse is the Grammy-nominated artist's follow up to Speak For Yourself, which gained success through the song Hide and Seek. You may also know of this English singer from her work as half of the electronic duo Frou Frou. In this post, I'll take a look at Ellipse in its entirety, a week before its release, and tell you if it's worth listening to.

Heap's music has always been hard to classify. Some may say it's electronic, but it isn't all computerized beats. Her music still contains real musical instruments, I mean she is a classically trained pianist...

The first single, and opening song is First Train Home. It's a strong opener and gives the listener a good feeling for the rest of the album. Most of her songs are very ambient and atmospheric. Piano and various orchestrated instruments fill the majority of the songs, but the main attraction is Imogen's voice. Her voice is an instrument in itself. Many harmonies consist of bum-bums, oohs, ahhs, and hisses instead of musical instruments. With the different tones and distortions on her voice, she creates a signature sound. Once you hear her unique voice, you'll most likely recognize it immediately on any other occasion.

There are definitely some stand-out tracks among others. Wait It Out is one song that stuck out the most. The song builds up from a quiet ballad with a chime-like melody to full blown "Imogen Heap electronic beat", and back down again. The Fire is a piano instrumental, complete with a fire crackling in the distance. It's very calm and mysterious at the same time. There isn't really a "filler" track on this album. Each song adds its own touch and plays an important part.

I highly suggest listening to this album in its entirety, but if you only download a couple songs, then pick these...

• Wait It Out
• Little Bird
• First Train Home
• Aha!
• Half Life

As I said, if you have the chance, then listen to the album as a whole. Each song on Ellipse is beautifully composed in its own way, and connect the album. If you follow Imogen Heap's music, you will not be disappointed. If you're unfamiliar with Imogen, then you should still give it a try. I know I'm going to pick up a copy when it's released...

Listen to the album before it's released... http://imogenheap.com/ellipse/