This is the 2nd solo studio album from British electropop artist from London, Imogen Heap. She made her first album, I Megaphone, fresh out of an experimental pop band, Acacia. She then formed a group with a former Acacia member, Guy Sigworth, to form Frou Frou, a collaborative project that would last a year and an album cycle. After that experiment ended, Imogen Heap started work on Speak For Yourself, remortgaging her apartment to fund it. Her lead single was Hide and Seek, and that was a massive success, ending up on memes at the time, TV and part of the wave of interpolation of these internet memes that was making its way across mainstream pop music. She even received a couple of Grammy Nominations, including one for Best New Artist. Hide and Seek is, to this day, Imogen Heap’s claim to fame and the cornerstone of her musical empire, which spanned into making musical gloves that Ariana Grande used (look it up), blockchain-based music sharing and even scoring Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. This song and this album became her magnum opus and her first major entry into music history.
For years, I loved the song, Hide and Seek. I’ve always heard of that long and enduring “mmm whatcha say” line from every corner of the internet, especially in the late 2000s, particularly in meme culture. The song was even interpolated by the likes of Jason Derulo for his aptly song “Whatcha Say”, a song that dominated the radio when I was younger. Obviously, I think the original is better, but I came to this conclusion later in life, once I was able to take in the true tragic beauty of this song. It was one of those songs where I could just close my eyes, sit back and enjoy. I wanted more of that, so the rest of Imogen Heap’s album was the first place I finally went to look.
While this album failed to live to a GODLY hype in Hide and Seek, it’s still a great record that has grown on me with repeated listens.
Production is quite fun on this album. While Imogen fights to be heard alongside the instruments, it’s only by a little bit. There are plenty of effects on this record and they are used perfectly. From the electronic timbre of the record to the openness of the album, it boasts the most interesting and satisfying production I’ve heard in a while.
Composition is pretty fun as well. This is an electronic album through and through with electronic drums and a metric ton of different types of synthesizers making for a robotic sound, but this album has some guitar in there for a splash of rock instrumentation, from none other than Jeff Beck! Structure is ok, even if it does seem like a “collection of songs”. My only issue is that Hide and Seek is tucked in the middle of the album and it is a sad, minimalist that sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the more upbeat songs that use more instruments.
Imogen Heap was the voice that got me interested in Speak For Yourself. Her voice is breathy and pretty without the help of a vocoder. With the vocoder, she is fantastic with her intro on Daylight Robbery and of course, her masterpiece, Hide and Seek. Part of why that song is a masterpiece is the lyrics themselves, and the same goes for the rest of the album. And while Speak For Yourself is not defined as just a relationship album, Imogen Heap writes compelling stories, mostly about relationships, however positive or sour. It makes for a really solid album!
It’s a shame that people only know Imogen Heap and this album for “mmm whatcha say” because not only is that song one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard in my life, but the rest of the album is also pretty great. It has both what I love about 2000s pop with a bit of what I tend to roll my eyes at, but more of the former than the latter. I’ve had this album on my mind for a very long time and I think it was worth the wait.
I’m giving this a Strong 8/10.
FAVOURITE TRACKS: Headlock, Goodnight & Go, Have You Got It In You?, Loose Ends, Hide and Seek, Daylight Robbery, The Walk, Just For Now, I Am In Love With You, Closing In, The Moment I Said It
LEAST FAVOURITE TRACK: Clear The Area
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