Speak for Yourself

Locations
Call Number: CD Rock Heap Speak
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 3rd Floor, CDs 2-week checkout	CD Rock Heap Speak	2-week checkout	On Shelf

Compact disc.
Lyrics on container insert.
Headlock -- Goodnight and go -- Have you got it in you? -- Loose ends -- Hide and seek -- Clear the area -- Daylight robbery -- The walk -- Just for now -- I am in love with you -- Closing in -- The moment I said it.
Imogen Heap with musical acc.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

2009 School Essay/Review of my then-favorite album submitted by Chris Haddlesey on July 1, 2014, 3:08pm Who is Imogen Heap? Chances are you have never heard of the artist, and chances are also that you should. Recording under her real name, Imogen is a musician difficult to describe. Adding her voice to the Electronic genre has proved to have been a step forward and a step back: While her choice of genre has differentiated herself from other singers, Imogen goes unnoticed because of it. But regardless of her direction, Imogen Heap walks alone on an open frontier.
The Electronic genre is not exactly barren, but significantly smaller than others due to its relatively recent popularity in the 70’s. Electronic is young in its life, and has not discovered its self-identity yet. Currently, the best description for the genre is that of “music that employs electronic musical instruments and technology in its production.” A quick look at the genre on iTunes shows that the most dominant artists as of now consist of M.I.A. with “Paper Planes,” The Postal Service with “Such Great Heights,” and of course a compilation of Daft Punk hits. While many subgenres can give people the wrong impression about Electronic (Techno, Dance, House, Trance) the genre can span over them all and much more, giving artists total freedom over their music. Imogen Heap may have chosen this genre to break away from “One-Hit Wonder” conformity, but her reasons for choosing Electronic are valid.
One needs only to hear the beginning of her album Speak for Yourself to realize this. The album begins with a wind chime of beeps and vocal musings, creating an ominous atmosphere for what is to come. From the very beginning, Imogen pulls out her bag of tricks: cryptic lyrics amidst layers of syncopation keeping time with the chronic chords. As the song comes full circle, “Headlock” is carried away by the heavy strings of a pair of cellos. The music, relieved of its somber weight, floats into the clouds with “Goodnight and Go”, forming the image of a toy chest in the sky. And while the song is a breath of fresh air, the musicality seems a bit transparent towards the final half of the song. Imogen is still flying as she passes into “Have You Got It In You?”, but something is amiss. The sky becomes much darker, tensions rising with dramatic note strings. And while Imogen reminds the listener that our flight is still a light one, merely seconds later we are pulled back to Earth by intense pulsating percussion. The song ends contemplatively, like a tribal civilization striving for flight on a starry night. “So watcha say we give it up and walk away?” “Loose Ends” throws it all out the window for a stroll down the sidewalk. The listener loses their will to the beat, entering a dream-like state of mind. But unlike brain-washing, the song stretches the listener’s mind rather than dampening it. And you’re going to want to have your head ready for this next song.
“Hide and Seek;” an a capella of melancholy angels flying through the night. Imogen Heap resonates her voice straight into your soul, plucking your heart strings with only her vocal chords. While the “I Have a Dream” speech will always send shivers through my spine par none, this song comes close. My favorite thing about her is that she takes her voice and makes it an instrument in itself, making the listener focus on the sound of her phonetics and nuances over the words she sings. This technique is the focus of “Hide and Seek,” and the result is mesmerizing. Really, the only negative point I have to make about this choir of Imogen is that sometimes her resonations are a bit too intense for my headphones, and without the proper volume levels these chords may be too much for your system to handle. On the edge of perfection, Imogen Heap delivers.
After some atmospheric gusts of wind, the moody “Clear The Area” begins, serving as a great transition back to the norm. “Daylight Robbery” serves a more hardcore audience with loud electric guitars, drums, and overall volume. This song proves that Imogen can be intense without just making noise. And then we get to “The Walk,” over five minutes of brilliance. These songs never cease to amaze me the way they can be light and dark at the same time…it’s difficult to describe. Listening to this song spawns the image of Imogen spinning in the sun, but seconds later I see night drives lit only by street lamps. It’s a profound experience. The next song, “Just For Now,” returns to the stratosphere with layers upon layers of Imogen whispering alongside strings and echoes. Horrendously, the final strain is followed by an, dare I say, ugly intro to the next song. “I Am In Love With You” is little more than what the title says, with Imogen saying the line a few times to go into some uninspired lyrics. There are some nice accompaniments, but this song makes sure you know nothing is perfect. There may be a personal message behind this song, but I’m not seeing it. Nearing the conclusion of the album, “Closing In” regains momentum with its moving percussion and mellow strings. “The Moment I Said It” concludes this album contemplatively, with echoed instrumentation and onomatopoeia. The final minute is a long decrescendo into ambience, starving the listener for more but letting them off gently like a nymph bound to the sky with no way to land.
Speak for Yourself is an experience. As stated before, Imogen Heap adds her voice to the Electronic genre in ways defining it and in others defying. The focus on her filters and synthesizers never disappears, but Imogen remains center stage throughout. And while this is her second album, I have never been able to obtain her first, titled I Megaphone, an album with the title playing off of her name. In video blogs Imogen goes into detail about how she uses unorthodox objects for music, from playing exotic instruments to hitting her fluorescent lights with mallets. She has a fireplace tiled with shards of her CDs and a garden in which she hunts for lizards. So who is Imogen Heap? She is an artist drumming to a rather different beat, but one that is well worth hearing.

Still Sounds New submitted by Meginator on August 21, 2021, 11:07am Despite being over 15 years old, this album still sounds new and inviting with Imogen Heap crafting a seamless blend of electronic elements with pop-rock song structures and branching out into some unexpected territory. Each song has a unique feeling to it, coming first and foremost from Heap’s incredible vocal performances, and many include unforgettable hooks that would still have a place on the radio today. “Hide and Seek” is perhaps the album’s most interesting track, a quasi-a cappella track that is as much story as song, with a hook so solid it was later sampled for a massively popular rap song. This album has excellent depth and definite staying power.