Imogen Heap – First Train Home
With last years stream of electro-pop artists turning to a river-bank-bursting torrent, it could have been hard to notice the delights of Imogen Heaps new single bobbing along in the water.
Thankfully for us, Imogen has been looked upon favourably by the gods in charge of the social media site Twitter. With over 1 million followers on the now infamous website, it’s impossible for Imogen to buy toothpaste, without a few thousand fans giving their opinion on which brand to go for. As such, Imogen has the chance for her brand of beautiful ambient-electro-pop to be heard by millions of ears, including mine.
First Train Home is a wonderful take on the introspective electronic singer-songwriter tracks that made David Grey so famous nearly a decade ago. Imogen has a very pretty voice that may remind some of Dido, but in actual fact reaches far further in shape and subtlety.
With lyrics that will no doubt make this a must-have for all commuters with ipods, First Train Home really connects with the day to day realities of modern life. As the Blake singer with the electro music obsession, I’m already a fan of artists like La Roux, older Goldfrapp and softer Air, but Imogen really is bringing something new to this genre.
The stand out feature of this song is the beautiful harmonic backdrop using purely Imogen's vocals. At times its almost as if we have a choir of Imogen's, with melody lines intertwining to great effect. Whilst writing this review I listened to the song over a dozen times, always finding some new musical detail that caught my ear. I have a feeling though that it may well be the Jon Hopkins remix that many will favour, as its just that little bit more mainstream. Personally I like the airy openness of Imogen's original.
It will be all too easy for journalists to concentrate on Imogen's recent Twitter fame, rather than her music, which would be a real shame. With every phase change of popular culture, there is always one unique artist that defines the moment for millions of people looking back in years to come. Many of us will look back on this decade as the period that the web took over our social lives and much of our spare time; Imogen's songs may well be the anthems that remind us of when this all began, let’s hope with fondness.
Stephen Bowman, bass singer in Blake.
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Blake Review: Imogen Heap – First Train Home
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