England is the birthplace of progressive rock, where classical
training and being well-read need not be a handicap when clanging out
some chords. Imogen Heap turns obsessions into satin layers of her own
voice. She’s a control freak. More people helped with the liner art
than with the music. The similarity to Kate Bush is no greater than to
early Genesis or XTC, and is more a degree of difference from what
surrounds her. She’s peculiar yet posh. “Earth” relates to the
environment and also to love. When she bellows “Stop this right away,”
Heap is probably right, whatever it is.
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2009.