Imogen Heap
During our belated summer holiday, my second eldest introduced me to the music of Imogen Heap.
I had unknowingly heard her as vocal artist on Urban Species’ Blanket but quite how I have failed to find her work before is beyond me. Comparisons to Dido and Alanis Morisette simply do not get anywhere close to doing justice to Imogen Heap’s voice; Kate Bush, another frequent comparator, is closer but not by much. Likwise, her wonderfully layered music seems to reference widely; I hear musical hat-tips to Kraftwerk, Thomas Dolby and Moloko to name but three. Her lyrics have, depending on the track, the inventiveness that you get with Elvis Costello, the cheekiness of XTC, the sense of place of Ian Dury or the haunting quality of Joni Mitchell.
For an idea of just how talented a musician Imogen Heap is, pop over to You Tube and watch the ‘Live at Studio 11 103.1FM’ video of her voice-and-sampler only performance of Just For Now.