Written by Cecil Mitchell
Picture this. It’s late fall in London, leaves tumble to the ground as mist massages your cheeks. It’s getting dark and you’re riding the Tube under the city, patiently awaiting the distant destination. Your headphones should be playing Imogen Heap’s 2005 record Speak for Yourself. Not too loud, but loud enough to hear the minute effects and embellishing synth lines underneath the dreamy soundscapes. Make sure you downloaded the FLACs, MP3s won’t do this album justice and WAVs are too big of a file when you’re probably listening over bluetooth (which doesn’t even have lossless capabilities!). Ideally, you should really have an original iPod (any generation works; I prefer the 7th gen Classic) and wired earbuds, but that’s neither here nor there. Point being, if you’re walking dimly lit streets against a dreary backdrop of London, Speak for Yourself is THE soundtrack.
From the eerie opening vocal harmonies of “Headlock” to the closing air-conditioned ambience of “The Moment I Said It”, Imogen Heap embarks on a gorgeous, sprawling, and oft vulnerable journey through tales of love and the lack thereof. Speak for Yourself is a masterwork in every sense, throwing preconceived notions of what pop music can/should be straight out of the window. Heap’s dreamy, ethereal vocals float over the experimental electronica she’s produced, the pounding drums and synthesized strings building unique tension and the subsequent resolution. She switches the vibe multiple times, balancing bubbly pop sensibilities with hauntingly soul-crushing imagery and instrumentation. Front to back, she manages to create a cohesive, narratively consistent record that fires on all cylinders.
Reading up on how Imogen Heap approached the production of Speak for Yourself, I started to realize just how dedicated she is. During the recording and writing sessions, she kept a chart listing tempos and keys corresponding to specific songs to ensure she did not repeat song structures. It was an effective method! No one track is the same, though there are common elements that connect each song.
One aspect I appreciate is the emphasis on the drums. With such lush soundscapes, attention to drums may be undermined, but Heap constantly works to push percussive elements through the sturdy walls she constructs out of synthesized sound. My favorite example of this is “The Walk”, which begins quietly with nothing more than a mallet synth and a “woosh” at the beginning of each measure. More elements enter over the next 30 seconds, finally coming together with strong, persistent drums. They become elevated during the chorus, the rest of the instrumentation raising it to its limits. Though Heap repeats that she “[feels] a weakness coming on”, those drums ensure some sense of stability. She achieves similar effects on other tracks, like “Closing In”, which masterfully uses speedy snares and thumping bass to balance the frenetic piano riffs.
It’s also important to realize the eclectic nature of her sounds. Though a majority of her “instruments” are likely synthesized, they sound nearly real (achieving an uncanny, unsettling effect). She uses a wide variety of timbres, from the distorted guitar of “Daylight Robbery” to the reverberated guitar-like plucks on “Goodnight and Go”. Even on the more straightforward tracks she utilizes unexpected sounds. Take “I Am in Love with You” for example, which has a lead bassline akin to the classic Roland TB-303, an acid house staple. With that being said, her mostexperimental and drawing “instrument” is her voice, the defining trait, in my opinion, of Speak for Yourself and a constant source of awe.
It’d be wrong not to mention the standout “Hide and Seek”, an a cappella number featured in television shows (The O.C.), memes, an infamous SNL skit, and sampled in Jason Derulo’s hit 2009 single “Whatcha Say”. The vocal polyphany forms vocoded chords that feel robotic yet have an innate sense of humanity. We’re observing Heap unravel her heartbreak through a digital lens, and it becomes all the more real. I think this is what makes Heap so innovative. She consistently uses her voice as an instrument, chopping the vocals and harmonizing them in unique ways, inserting them into the soundscape. A few examples of this include the opening melodic line in “Headlock”, the distorted intro to “Daylight Robbery”, or even the backing vocals on “Have You Got It in You?”. No matter what track, Heap’s digitally altered voice doesn’t just embellish the instrumentation, but it makes the instrumentals themselves human.
That’s what makes Speak for Yourself so special; as you listen, it evolves into something more than music, taking on a real, tangible form with real, tangible feelings. It’s a changing landscape with falling leaves, budding flowers, and even pesky growths of weeds. I’m not alone in this either, which you can especially see by looking at the bigger picture Imogen Heap has played her part in over the years. Clams Casino pioneered an entire subgenre of hip-hop (cloud rap) by sampling “Just for Now” on the beat for Lil B’s seminal “I’m God”. One of the biggest pop artists of our generation, Ariana Grande, has noted on numerous occasions the influence Heap has on her, even going so far as to cover and remix “Goodnight and Go”. It’s safe to say that this record has changed lives and will continue to shape soundscapes for decades to come.