by Chelsea Spear

(Almo Sounds)

Almo Sounds' entrant into the Lilith-ready race for the most melodic, Tori Amos-influenced female vocalist race is a striking nineteen-year-old named Imogen Heap, already a star in her native Australia. Heap's debut platter, iMEGAPHONE, suggests why she's held in such high regard Down Under.  [Nanikita's note: Imogen is British] The album reveals a drive and intensity appealing in such a vocalist, combined with a booming vocal primed to give listeners the willies. Her music has a catchingly addictive, kaleidoscopic aspect to it, and her lyrics reveal a startling insight and wonderful sense of humor.

Sure, all of this sounds good now. However, nothing can be this amazing all at once. As with many debut albums, iMEGAPHONE can be used as much for gaming purposes as for discovering new talent, since the music she listened to during the creation of the album is as abundantly clear as Heap's own talent. And, sometimes, the musical styles she takes on can overwhelm her world view as it can help add focus.

Moments like the first few seconds of album opener "Getting Scared" put everything appealing about Heap into focus -- the melding of her piano style and breathy, supple voice with the honeyed techno beats that suggest the influence of techno/folk goddess Beth Orton. Unfortunately, if the song reveals the zenith of Heap's considerable talent, it also reveals the nadir of the production -- a few seconds later, a more canned and synthetic sounding beat comes bouding out of the stereo, accompanied by a louder, processed vocal.

The other end of that spectrum is the unadorned piano ballads that dot the second half of the album. These come much closer to Heap's true style and what her real voice must sound like, even if they end up sounding like various rough drafts of Tori Amos' "Leather". I'm much more drawn to the fusing of these two styles, as with the ballad "Come Here Boy". Set to the booming beat of a canned drum that brings to mind one of Brandy or Monica's girly slow jams, the emotive tinkling of Heap's piano and the vulnerable cough of her voice blend something synthetic with something real.

All in all, iMEGAPHONE introduces Imogen Heap as a major talent in the making. However, one wishes that her talent was pushed and developed into more challenging, satisfying, and individualistic ways before it was committed to tape like this. Oh well - perhaps that's the next album's job.