Imogen Heap's Ellipse

In her follow up album to Speak for Yourself, Imogen Heap delivers a piece of musical artwork with Ellipse. The queen of anti-cookie-cutter pop music, she recorded every single sound on the album in her home studio; whether she played the instrument (or in some instances children’s toys) or she had musicians come to her house and she recorded it there. The lyrics are nearly all metaphorical, and rarely ever make any logical sense, but they flow together like poetry or abstract art.

The album starts with the first single “First Train Home.” The song feels exactly how the title states. It has an early morning feeling, yet it conveys a sense of impatience and urgency to get home. The next song on the album, “Wait It Out”, starts with a completely vocal composition reminiscent of “Hide and Seek”, a song off of her previous album.

“Earth” is one of the few songs on the album that has a clear statement. This song is about protecting the earth and she sings, with conviction, “this rock can’t take anymore”. It is a song that says, with a bright and bubbly atmosphere, the earth needs to be saved. This song has a very organic, natural sound to it. “Tidal” has a very “Let Go” sound to it, a song she recorded when she was in the duo Frou Frou. Its a very airy sounding song and the lyrics create phenomenal mental pictures. “Bad Body Double” is another song with a clear message. Though, at first, I interpreted it as someone wanting to be exactly like her. The more I listened to it; I realized she was talking about her self. An alter-ego, perhaps, that has body-issues and low confidence makes itself known nearly constantly.

“Aha!” is perhaps one of the most complex sounding songs on the album. The sound has a very mischievous sound to it, almost like a naughty child has stolen a cookie from the kitchen and is sneaking around. The song crescendos and is followed by an almost Indian sounding vocal melody, then sweeps back into the song again before ending with an abrupt “Oi!” The song “Canvas” is the most poetic song on the album. The words shouldn’t flow together as well as they do, but the sweeping music edges the words along. The chorus of the song makes metaphor of a canvas saying “‘Cause I just can’t find the strength to pull you up and keep you taught.” The album ends with the song “Half Life”, a song that is simple in composition, but haunting in the vocals and lyrics.

As an Imogen Heap fan for three years now, I have been waiting, quite impatiently, for Imogen to release another album. I wondered how she could ever create a follow-up album to the impeccable Speak for Yourself, and what that album would sound like. Ellipse is complex album, with the simplest of lyrics, and a beautiful musical composition. I definitely do not think this album is a let down and I think this is one of the wisest investments I made this year.