Back Full Circle - Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap has been a bit busy lately. She’s just released ‘Ellipse’, her third solo album, and she’s been promoting it heavily. Most recently Imogen appeared on Radio 5 to review the week’s releases, including her own, live on air.

“I kept deflecting the questions when I was asked about … um. Charlotte Coyle? I can’t remember her name,” explained Imogen. “The girl who’s got a number one coming. Anyway, she was on the X Factor or something like that last night”. Perhaps it’s because Imogen has spent the past year locked in the studio pouring everything into ‘Ellipse’ or because, as she confesses, she has no interest in the notion of celebrity that she has no idea who Cheryl Cole is.

Imogen’s first single ‘Last Train Home’ was also discussed on the radio show; one of the panellists didn’t offer much praise. “She [Kitty Empire] was talking about how she appreciates what I’ve done, being on my own and everything like that,” explained Imogen, “but she didn’t hold back on what she thought. She said my single was a bit wafty, but that’s ok. To be honest, when I listened to it against the other super poppy, overproduced songs I did think mine sounded a bit slow so I gave myself a bit of a review.”

Despite Imogen’s status on the web - over 40 million plays on MySpace can't be wrong -  this is the first of her albums to chart in the top 40. Imogen has gained notoriety for her relationship with fans; regular video blogs that opened up the process of recording her album and frequent tweets have got her as many column inches as her reputed skill at marketing her material. It raises the question of why this album has been more successful than her other stunning releases, and whether it’s her online presence that has made ‘Ellipse’ her most popular album. “I’d say that’s definitely a large factor of it,” said Imogen. “In the past there were maybe certain people who went out and bought my album who eventually found out about it online or on a spot of radio play, but the fact that people know now that if they’re interested in a musician they go onto their MySpace or know they’re probably gonna blog … they know they’re gonna hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.”

Perhaps her interactive relationship with fans has helped build a loyal group of followers who would rather buy her album than download it for free. Imogen isn’t so sure: “I think that people who maybe have grown up in an environment, people who are younger than me, where it’s just not normal to go out and spend money on an album… It’s absolutely ridiculous and they know it’s illegal but they’re like ‘so what. I can get it for free. I’ll go to the gigs and I’ll talk about her’. To them it’s not – they don’t understand that maybe it is quite damaging.”

Illegal downloading is a subject that Imogen talks passionately about. She simply doesn’t understand how some music fans can justify stealing music: “I don’t make money through record sales… Maybe some people think ‘oh, £10 for all that effort’ but it’s not really asking a lot. It’s skipping dinner with a friend so they can afford it. It seems ridiculous to see it like that, when you think it’s only a couple of drinks at the bar. That’s all it is at the end of the day.”

Another of Imogen’s songs has been getting a lot of play recently, hitting number 2 in the US billboard 200 chart and on plenty of commercial radio playlists. The American pop singer Jason DeRulo’s hit single ‘Whatcha Say’ samples ‘Hide and Seek’; Imogen’s favourite of her songs. “I do love ‘Hide and Seek’,” said Imogen. “It’s a surprise that it came about. I just think, for me to be able to put down all the toys and just really breathe a song from the start … I mean, I love all the bells and whistles and stuff, but I love that that one song can exist like that. It’s so simple; it’s kind of hymn like… I love watching its journey; it’s been so many different places and so many people have found a connection with it. I don’t know if I’ll do another ‘Hide and Seek’. Everybody knows it, but nobody knows who I am.”

As my time with Imogen runs out, she parts by telling me she’s about to announce a UK tour, details of which are on her MySpace, and talks about a remix of her single ‘Last Train Home’: “It’s a really beautiful remix by this guy called John Hopkins. He’s a really good friend of mine and he did a version of it and it’s just beautiful.”

With that final piece of promotion, a theme that runs throughout the interview, she hangs up for what I presume is another afternoon filled with marketing her music; something she’s completely skilled at but done in such a friendly, honest way that it’s hard to begrudge her for all the plugging. When someone makes music that’s as stunning as hers they deserve to promote it at every opportunity.