Before I get to the music part of today's Music Monday post, I want to apologize for the delay in posting last week's Weekly Wrap-up vlog. Yesterday, my computer decided to temporarily call it off by refusing to turn on for more than a split second. This meant that, while I was able to film the piece on my GoPro, I was unable to edit it using Windows Movie Maker (embarrassing, I know, but I don't know any other good, free editing programs, and am definitely reluctant to steal one). Thankfully, mercifully, mi computadora es working today, and I should be able to get it all edited and posted soon enough.
Moving on . . .
Today's Music Monday post is a really special one, as I have the opportunity to review for you a long-awaited album by one of my TOP 5 favorite musicians, Imogen Heap, whose fourth album, Sparks, was officially released last week.
Sparks has been a long time coming. Immi announced the commencement of this very intense, involved project back in July of 2011, just over a month before I left for South Africa. She began by calling out to her fans for "seeds"- sounds, videos, images, recordings- that she would use as inspiration in writing and producing new material. Imogen informed the world that this new album would be unlike anything she'd done before, as it would involve her fans in a more intimate way than she had ever done previously. She lived up to that declaration beautifully. A lot went into this album, and to hear about all of it you can check out her website, OR, even better, you can listen to her track-by-track explanations on Spotify for free! I highly recommend doing this before even listening to the album, as it will give you a much greater appreciation and understanding of the meaning, inspiration, and production behind each song.
I could try and tell you all in one post everything I know about what went into the making of the album, but that would honestly take forever. Instead, I'm going to do a brief track-by-track, pointing out those things which stood out to me the most. And, because that in itself is going to take FOREVER, I'mma get right into it:
1. "You Know Where to Find Me" is a beautiful, piano-based song inspired by a river that Imogen, and plenty of other people, would visit to get away from the world for a bit, or to confess their secret desires, or to have a place to think things over. The story of the song is told from the river's perspective, explaining the reasons behind the visits, as well as reaching out to those lonely souls who do.
2. "Entaglement" is a song originally written for the Twilight Saga. However, it was cut from the soundtrack for being too "graphically sexual." Which it isn't really- it has nothing on the books, which themselves aren't exactly Fifty Shades. It's actually a pretty, light-hearted sex song. It's not carnal, nasty, or even sexy. It's sensual, happy, and tender.
3. "The Listening Chair" is a wonderful example of Imogen's creative and innovative songwriting abilities. This a cappella piece originated in audio/visual samples recorded by fans all over the world. Imogen bought one of those egg-chairs, which were so popular in a bygone era, and retrofitted it with audio/visual recording equipment. She then sent it on a world tour and encouraged her fans to sit in the chair and record whatever they wanted in it- especially what they'd like to hear in a song. Upon listening to all these recordings, Imogen noticed common sentiments and desires expressed by people in certain age groups. She came to the conclusion that everyone, on some level, just wants to be able to share their life and experiences with others. So, she wrote the beginnings of "The Listening Chair", a song that will never be finished. Every minute of the song represents seven years in Immi's life. The first minute is structured as a lullaby for children between the ages of infancy to seven years old. In the next two minutes it progresses through childhood and into angst-ridden teenagerism, before transitioning into confident young adulthood, then darkening again to a more uncertain, middle-aged sound. It's phenomenal how she captures the mentality of each age group in just one minute of music, and the musical skill displayed in her ability to transition between the different stages of growth- with all their separate attitudes and moods- is staggering. She captures them perfectly. What makes Imogen plans on adding another minute to the song every seven years until the day she dies, making "The Listening Chair" a never-ending, destined to be unfinished piece; a musical autobiography. How amazing is that?
4. "The Cycle Song" is an awesome instrumental piece. It's musical influences are heavily Eastern (which makes sense since she did a lot of travelling around Asia while writing the album- this song was actually written as a score piece for a documentary about Bhutan). It's short, fun, and joyful.
5. "Telemiscommunications" is a collaborative effort between Imogen Heap and the dubstep artist deadmau5. It's a very minimalistic, emotional piece detailing the dissatisfaction that comes when actual, human connection is replaced by purely electronic communication. It's strange and easy to relate to.
6. "Lifeline" is probably my favorite song on the album. It was the first track written for Sparks, and is a heart-wrenching piece inspired by the 2011 tsunami in Japan. A majority of the intial word "seeds" Imogen received correlated heavily with the disaster, making it clear what was on everyone's minds, and what they wanted her to write about. However, the disaster being so big ("city-sized, not people-sized", she says in the commentary), she had difficulty truly empathizing with the event, and therefore didn't feel that she could honestly write a song about it. It wasn't until she read the account of a reporter for The Guardian, in which he described watching from a helicopter as a single man tried desperately to outrun the tidal wave on a bicycle, that Imogen could have an actual, personal connection to the tragedy. She said she burst into tears while reading the piece in a cafe. The song is based on what she imagined was running through the cycling man's head as he, moments from death, gave his all in trying to escape it. I have to fight back tears every time I listen to the song, especially the pre-chorus: "Who, what, when, where? In one stir of a teaspoon - I'm shaking, and gasping, for air." It's haunting and beautiful.
7. "Neglected Space" is an awesome spoken-word piece, something that Immi's never done before, told from the perspective of abandoned buildings. It's a little frightening, and elicits a surprisingly emotional reaction from the listener. You come away from it actually feeling something for the inanimate structures that have been surrendered to nature. The lyrics are spectacular, and the music is gorgeous.
8. "Minds Without Fear" is an energetic, aggressive song for which Imogen collaborated with the Indian musical duo, Vishal-Shekhar. I love this song (as I do every song on the album). The melody, mixing, and instrumentation are flawless. I especially love the very last few seconds when the music builds in waves of near-crescendo, before dropping off completely and ending the track. It's awesome.
9. "Me the Machine" is a track written for one of Immi's most ambitious projects: The Mi.Mu gloves. In short, Imogen and a team of technicians have spent the last four years developing gloves that will allow her to intuitively play her electronic music onstage, without sitting at a computer or looping machine, or having to re-create her music with dozens of different acoustic instruments. The gloves have sensors that read the motions of her arms and hands, as well as her location on the stage itself, and will produce musical sounds according to those readings. For example, if Imogen want's percussion, she'll make her way to the part of the stage designated as the drums section, and play out a beat in the air which, when picked up by the gloves, is played out of the speakers. These gloves turn what has previously been a mostly stationary, point-and-click performance into a show full of motion, music, and surreal beauty. You can watch a video of one such performance here. Keep in mind, the linked performance took place while the gloves were still being developed, so she hadn't quite got all the kinks worked out. The song was written merely three days previous to the show.
10. "Run-Time" is a really cool song. It was written for an app by the same name, which Immi helped to create. The app creates a playlist based on the tempo of your exercise. It's like a Pandora for running- when you run fast, fast songs will play. When you slow down, the music slows down also. No song will be played twice, and sounds from the world around you are recorded by the app, and worked into whatever track is playing. It makes exercise a fun, one-of-a-kind experience. I want it. The song itself is energetic and changes tempo a few times throughout- fitting in perfectly with its app companion.
11. "Climb to Sakteng" is a musical score Imogen wrote, along with "The Cycle Song", to accompany the documentary The Happiest Place, A Journey Across Bhutan. To gain the appropriate inspiration needed for this song, Imogen Heap joined the filmmakers in an expedition through the Himalayas. What else would she have done, really? The song is a relaxing counterpart to the energetic "Cycle Song".
12. "The Beast" is an angry, slightly terrifying electronic piece that originated as a collaboration between Immi and the rapper B.O.B. The song was cut from his album, after which Imogen Heap completely forgot about it. She stated that she randomly found the file in her computer one day, and wondered where it had come from. Upon realizing what it was, she decided to finish it up, and include it on Sparks. It was a last-minute addition, but definitely an appreciated one.
13. "Xizi She Knows" was inspired by Imogen's second visit to China. She had been once before and had been frustrated by the fact that she didn't get to actually experience the country, due to her schedule. She remedied this with her second visit, where she made it a point to do her best to get to know the country and people in the few short weeks of her visit. The resulting song is one of loving caution in which she urges China's population to continue to develop and innovate, but at a pace which won't cause them to lose track of their distinctive cultural roots. "Can we go for progression, not pace?" she pleads. However, the message is one of optimism and inspiration, rather than regret or sorrow.
14. "Propeller Seeds" is the last song on the album, and the first song to have been released. I was able to hear it before my adventure to South Africa. The song is said to be the first "3-D" song- meaning it was recorded and engineered to make the listener feel as if he/she is in the middle of everything going on within the track. When listened to with headphones, the song accomplishes this superbly, taking the listener through scenes of creaking forests, bustling cafes, and pulsing discotheques. The lyrics themselves are endearing, as they're about Imogen's sudden, unexpected desire to have children. It's a sweet, enveloping conclusion to one of the most inspiring, exciting, jaw-dropping albums I've ever heard.
Please check out the album- listen to Immi's track-by-track commentary first- and tell other people about it. There are also music videos to accompany each track (The Queen Bey- much as I love her- wasn't the first to come up with the visual album concept). I sincerely hope you enjoy it- it's breathtaking.
Much Love,
Adam