The Elliptical World of Imogen Heap

Oct 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

           
 

THE STUDIO-SAVVY SINGER/MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST RECORDS HER NEW ALBUM IN HER CHILDHOOD HOME

You orchestrate your vocals in more intricate detail than any singer I've ever heard. Are you more influenced by your knowledge of orchestration than by other singers?

I was never really interested in vocal music as a kid. I learned the piano, so I learned harmony [and] counterpoint through that. And then I learned the clarinet [and] cello, so I understood different parts of the orchestra and how they work with each other. And I studied composition and arrangement, not to a great degree, not even to degree level, just for the love of it.

I like creating something with lots of personality, lots of depth and lots of things that you can hear over and over — things that you don't notice at all until the 50th listen, that most would say, “Why are you still in the studio working on that damn song?” I want to get the detail that you couldn't possibly take in on your first, second, third, fourth listen. And I'll probably forget that they're there. In five years' time, I'll go, “Ooh, that's a nice sound! How did I do that? I forgot about that.” I want to be able to experience music like that, because otherwise people just go, “Okay, I've got that.” Well, I would, anyway. I like music I can listen to over and over again. I don't listen to my own music, but that's the kind of stuff I like, with details and lots and lots of parts going on, but at the same time trying to keep a focus.

That's why I always record the vocals first, try to put as little music behind me as possible, record the vocals so they sound amazing, do all the harmonies and make all the parts, even before there's any music — just the bare bones. Then, and only then, start creating the music around it. I spent about a month just doing vocals. I didn't do anything else. I did 10 tracks of vocals when I got into the studio. It was absolutely maddening, but I just wanted to get it out of the way because for me, that's not really the fun bit. The fun bit is making sounds and just getting lost in the audio.

It sounds like you have a very strong sense of balance on Ellipse.

Every song is in a different key, and there's six major, six minor. One of them is improvised; six of them were written on the writing trip; six of them were written in the house. Tempos range from 54 to 177 [bpm] because I wanted to get a full sweep of tempos. It's also trying to find spaces to be creative within because if I just had an empty canvas, it's absolutely impossible to do anything. Where do you start? What color do you use? What kind of brush do you use? It's overwhelming. So I needed to make myself have these bookends to work within, so I'd choose, like, I have to have this kind of tempo and this kind of key, and this type of major-minor whatever because I haven't got it on the record. And sometimes that would be what decided the tempo or key of the beginning of an idea.

With all the work you've been doing wrapping up Ellipse, have you found time to get involved with any film projects lately?

No, I haven't had any time at all to do anything. I've had very little sleep. I came straight out of the record, and I got thrown into the album art [and] press images. The only thing I'm doing tomorrow and the day after is TED[Global], and I'm so looking forward to just taking in what's happened for the last two years because it's been absolutely nonstop. The kind of weight and the pressure of this album, waking up every morning, going, “Oh, I've got to do the record,” you know. It still hasn't really sunk in. I still feel like I wake up in the morning, and go, “Oh! No, I don't have to do it.” But I've got to do everything else. So I'm really looking forward to these next few days.

Congratulations on making it this far.

Thank you. I didn't think I was going to for a while there.

Senior editor Geary Yelton has been writing for EM since its first issue in 1985. He lives in North Carolina and commutes downstairs.

Career Highlights

After recording her critically acclaimed debut solo album, i Megaphone (Almo Sounds, 1998), Imogen Heap teamed with producer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Madonna, Britney Spears) to form Frou Frou and release the duo's only album, Details (MCA, 2002). Her second solo album, Speak for Yourself (Megaphonic, 2005), reached Number One in Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and number two in Billboard's Top Electronic Albums chart, and yielded a string of popular singles such as “Headlock,” “Goodnight and Go” and the Vocoder-infused “Hide and Seek.” Her songs have appeared in movies such as Garden State and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and on TV shows that include The O.C. and Heroes. Heap is also in demand as a guest performer, singing with Jeff Beck on the DVD Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's, for example, and on IAMX's album, Kingdom of Welcome Addiction.