IMOGEN HEAP - Speak For Yourself

Imogen Heap’s debut album, I, Megaphone, was recorded in 1998, and apart from a thoroughly decent collaboration with Guy Sigsworth in 2002 under the name Frou Frou (Details), this follow up has been a long time coming. Thankfully, having lived with this disc for a while, it’s obvious that Imogen Heap remains just as starry-eyed and gifted as she did 7 years ago.

Speak For Yourself opens with the upbeat electro-pop of Headlock, which wisely pushes away all notions of electro-clash. Heap provides her usual distintive, quirky vocal, amidst an equally idiosyncratic barrage of melodic pulses and tones. The following Goodnight And Go is equally sprightly and punchy. Although slightly over-produced, nothing is likely to stop it from appearing on a myriad of movie soundtrack compilations, its feel-good appeal is almost tailor-made for that market.

Have You Got It In You then lowers the tempo, and again Heap revels in producing achingly addictive melodies, this time laying down soft, amazonian beats while her vocals spray through the octaves with consumate ease. Meanwhile, Clear The Area revisits Heap’s Frou Frou days, with a glamorous downtempo vibe, and there is also the emotive acappella track Hide And Seek, where Heap’s vocal is doubled and semi-vocoded, it breaks up the album well.

Whist the first half of Speak For Yourself sparkles and fizzes with energy and verve, the second half actually features the best songs, starting with the excellent Daylight Robbery, a bruising rock track with lashings of sparkling programming. Hypnotisingly addictive, this won’t leave your stereo for weeks and is one of Heap’s best tracks to date. Skipping over another enjoyable slice of soundtrack-beckoning pop on The Walk, we reach Just For Now. This is where we find the vocals pushed further to the fore. Again, the track is dreamily melodic, with Heap's vocal multi-layered and backed by heaving strings – beautiful stuff.

The Moment I Said It closes the album, bewitching with its deeply harmonious vibe and pungent melodic content. The inclusion of piano, which so dominated Heap's debut album, makes a welcome return – in fact I would have liked to have heard more of it on Speak For Yourself, because with so much of the album being sequence and sample-based it does sometimes carry a slightly sanitary, digital feel. Nevertheless, this excellent closing track will leave you in little doubt that frequent revisits are required. This is also one of the few tracks where the vocal is pushed quite vigorously at times; and that really makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. In fact, I would like to have heard more angry vocals throughout the album, just to cover every inch of the spectrum.

Whilst Imogen Heap sits in the subconcious of many, Speak For Yourself is the perfect vehicle to exploit the undercurrent of admiration that surrounds her career and could easily catapult her into the mainstream. Heap is a true talent, and a musican in the traditional sense; she seems to have created a secure niche for herself by blending pure pop sensibilities and chilled vibes with some of the more angular elements of electronica - safe in the knowledge that her vocal ability will always be able to pull out the trump card.



	IMOGEN HEAP - Speak For Yourself
	8.5
	Absolute ~ MEGACD1 ~ July 2005
	Imogen Heap’s debut album, I, Megaphone, was recorded in 1998, and apart from a thoroughly decent collaboration with Guy Sigsworth in 2002 under the name Frou Frou (Details), this follow up has been a long time coming. Thankfully, having lived with this disc for a while, it’s obvious that Imogen Heap remains just as starry-eyed and gifted as she did 7 years ago. Speak For Yourself opens with the upbeat electro-pop of Headlock, which wisely pushes away all notions of electro-clash. Heap provides her usual distintive, quirky vocal, amidst an equally idiosyncratic barrage of melodic pulses and tones. The following Goodnight And Go is equally sprightly and punchy. Although slightly over-produced, nothing is likely to stop it from appearing on a myriad of movie soundtrack compilations, its feel-good appeal is almost tailor-made for that market. Have You Got It In You then lowers the tempo, and again Heap revels in producing achingly addictive melodies, this time laying down soft, amazonian beats while her vocals spray through the octaves with consumate ease. Meanwhile, Clear The Area revisits Heap’s Frou Frou days, with a glamorous downtempo vibe, and there is also the emotive acappella track Hide And Seek, where Heap’s vocal is doubled and semi-vocoded, it breaks up the album well. Whist the first half of Speak For Yourself sparkles and fizzes with energy and verve, the second half actually features the best songs, starting with the excellent Daylight Robbery, a bruising rock track with lashings of sparkling programming. Hypnotisingly addictive, this won’t leave your stereo for weeks and is one of Heap’s best tracks to date. Skipping over another enjoyable slice of soundtrack-beckoning pop on The Walk, we reach Just For Now. This is where we find the vocals pushed further to the fore. Again, the track is dreamily melodic, with Heap's vocal multi-layered and backed by heaving strings – beautiful stuff. The Moment I Said It closes the album, bewitching with its deeply harmonious vibe and pungent melodic content. The inclusion of piano, which so dominated Heap's debut album, makes a welcome return – in fact I would have liked to have heard more of it on Speak For Yourself, because with so much of the album being sequence and sample-based it does sometimes carry a slightly sanitary, digital feel. Nevertheless, this excellent closing track will leave you in little doubt that frequent revisits are required. This is also one of the few tracks where the vocal is pushed quite vigorously at times; and that really makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. In fact, I would like to have heard more angry vocals throughout the album, just to cover every inch of the spectrum. Whilst Imogen Heap sits in the subconcious of many, Speak For Yourself is the perfect vehicle to exploit the undercurrent of admiration that surrounds her career and could easily catapult her into the mainstream. Heap is a true talent, and a musican in the traditional sense; she seems to have created a secure niche for herself by blending pure pop sensibilities and chilled vibes with some of the more angular elements of electronica - safe in the knowledge that her vocal ability will always be able to pull out the trump card.