Though she’s always flown just below the radar of the pop market, Imogen Heap seems to prefer the solitude of her recording studios — politely releasing albums every half a decade or so, collecting her Grammy nominations (or winnings, in the case of her last effort: 2009’s Ellipse) and royalties from television/soundtrack placement.
Everyone seems to have a cursory knowledge of her or her existence, but her name is noticeably absent from the limelight in what seems to be a renaissance of desire for tangible artistry and genuine musical ability (i.e., Adele, Sam Smith, Gaga, Ed Sheeran, so forth). For the past 5 years, the UK-born chanteuse and versatile multi-instrumentalist has traveled through China, Bhutan, and India recording locals and absorbing regional musical ideas to pair with crowd-sourced ‘sound seeds’: field recordings of mundane sounds like the closing of a door or a bicycle sent in by her fans. The result, Sparks, is an absolute delight to a music lover’s ear.
You Know Where to Find Me – Opening with a stark and delicate piano line, this particular song might be the most appropriate way to begin such a complex album. Heap’s free-flowing arrangement allows a sultry plea [“be still with me”] to resonate in betwixt the spaces within precisely mixed instrumentation. As the vocals swell around the listener’s head and the chaos of the song builds until a dramatic drop around the 3:20 mark, there is no room to breathe amidst the sheer anxiety of the music. Breathtaking.
Entanglement – Beginning with a gripping mechanical pulsation, “Entanglement” finds Imogen immersed in her lover’s embrace. This is also where the more Asian influences begin to shine through melodically and instrumentally. Sonically it’s quite sparse and doesn’t feature near as much movement as its predecessor, rather letting a moment in time simmer. “It’s home where you hold me, so show me no mercy / on islands of cotton taboos get forgotten”. On its own merit it’s more of a filler track, but it bridges the gap perfectly between “You Know Where to Find Me” and “The Listening Chair”
The Listening Chair – When written correctly, there are not enough words to describe an opus. In the span of just over five minutes, Heap eloquently traces the journey of her life allotting every seven years of her existence thus far a minute, each over an ever-shifting (and almost confusing) musical bed that modulates key signatures and tempos at the drop of a hat. This is where Sparks begins to take flight. Nothing more need be said, only heard.
Cycle Song – An instrumental composed in the mountains of Bhutan featuring an exhilarating dramyin sample, string section, nuns, and a curiously slippery 9/4 time signature. Even without lyrics, “Cycle Song” is cinematic in scope and feels like a refreshing breath of morning air before a run.
‘Telemiscommunications’ (feat. deadmau5)
Telemiscommunications (feat. deadmau5) – A more subdued entry written in conversational quips between a long-distance couple desperate for “contact versus telemiscommunications”. Much more nuanced than other songs on the record and essential to the experience.
Lifeline – “Lifeline”’s rubbery analog synth bass line and rigid drum programming align it more closely with Miss Heap’s 2005 breakthrough album, Speak For Yourself; appropriate, given that it was the first song recorded for the album. However, its clever use of Japanese harp samples and a perfectly-timed key change give it its own energy.
Neglected Space – Cold-chill inducing spoken word poetry that is only properly listenable through headphones. Heap’s beautiful understanding of the human voice and its viability as an instrument shines through clearly; the choral arrangement builds just the right amount of tension and intimacy. Arguably, casual listeners may get lost amidst the atmosphere, but the song is well worth a full listen.
‘The Listening Chair’
Minds Without Fear (with. Vishal-Shekhar) – Composed with an Indian duo whose discography consists of innumerable Bollywood soundtracks, “Minds Without Fear” is definitely the most opportune world-wide pop single on the album as well as being one of its standout tracks. The song is sung equally in Hindi & English and slinks its way overtop beautiful Indian orchestration to an infectious militaristic beat. Huge, booming, and captivating, “Minds Without Fear” begs for attention in a stadium setting.
Me, the Machine – “Oh, to share a scent of that sweet summer breeze / A love for a squeeze / How can you teach me these things? / Me, the machine, can dream”. Heap’s ingenious Mi.Mu gloves (watch the 2012 Wired talk) provide a modulating, non-quantized, free-breathing musical backdrop that moves naturally with the lyrics. Ironically, the human touch of the song — the small idiosyncrasies of an imperfect tempo and acoustic instruments — is what gives it its whimsical aura. While seemingly a filler track on first listen, “Me, the Machine” begs for re-listens as it drills into the eardrum. The lyrics can be a tad banal at times (“the PIN code to happiness/access denied/ I’m downloading romance / downloading romance”), but never annoyingly so.
Run-Time – While developed as part of a running app whose music changes tempo with the runner’s heartbeat, “Run-Time” is one of the lesser contributions to Spark’s tracklisting. It’s certainly catchy and a perfect motivational song for a jog, but it’s stunted by retro overkill in the synthesizer department and a comparatively weak chorus. Juxtaposed with some of the album’s best melodic choices on its verses, the song’s chorus fails to live up to its own momentum. That all being said, it is redeemed at least in part by its second movement just after 3 minutes.
Climb to Sakteng – A technically un-tempoed piano score set to a Bhutanese singer. It’s a close cousin to “Cycle Song” if only for its theory, but it allows a much more intimate musical moment that’s only been hinted at thus far. A quick breather.
The Beast – Possibly the only misstep on Sparks. “The Beast” is not boring, it’s not bad by any stretch, and the chorus is actually one of the catchier of those offered; it’s just that the whole is not as great as the sum of the parts. The song feels very much like a last-minute addition to the album.
Xizi She Knows – A wonderful ode to the evolution of culture. While the lyrics seem vague in passing, they seem to be somewhat of a love letter to China from the West. A plea to remain the same though the world is moving at lightning speed asking it to do the same. “Beautiful, graceful, like no other / Pretty damned good as you are / Xizi she knows that once it’s gone, then it’s gone”.
Propeller Seeds – A pensive final note that’s an adventure to listen to as various samples blend and pan in and out of each ear, licking the listener and enticing further listens. Lyrically, it’s classic Heap along the lines of “Hide and Seek”: setting the scene of a party where she locks eyes with a man to “float in tandem” past the rest of the partygoers. She begins to imagine a life with him emerging from the roots “growing through her toes”. It’s a magical, wistful way to close out what is an odyssey of an album.
It’s taken this reviewer five full listens of Sparks to completely grasp its depth and its composition enough to write an informed review of it; in the process I’ve ended up playing it for most of my close friends to compare varying opinions, but the consensus seems to be (amongst a smattering of people with completely different musical tastes and a wide range of musical ability) that the album is nothing short of a masterpiece. A symphony of the Modern Age. One compliment given out by two individuals completely separately was that album deserved nothing less than to be “sent to space to be found by extraterrestrials”. Heap’s use of crowd-sourced sounds and crowd-funded instruments make Sparks a wholly modern experience — a series of events and subsequent creation that could have only taken place in the 21st century; and yet, with its clever interpolation of Asian musical culture, it feels timeless. It so delicately walks the line of pretension without ever falling prey to the hoity-toity below or becoming inaccessible to the average listener. THAT is its crowning achievement.
While it may be difficult to follow at times, the album yields deep returns and has an extremely notable repeat value, which is something just short of a miracle in this Buzzfeedized age of virality and quick decay. While not as pop-oriented as her previous albums, Sparks is certainly the greatest objective piece of music released in the otherwise very bland landscape of 2014 and, I would be so bold as to say, the greatest objective piece of music released in the internet age thus far.
Essential tracks: “The Listening Chair”, or the album in its entirety.
