Heap grew up playing music from an early age, and by her eleventh birthday she was writing her own songs. From the age of 15, she studied at the BRIT School Of Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, South London, recording three tracks for the school's annual CD between 1994 and 1995, "Aliens" being the title track of the latter.
After being introduced to Nik Kershaw by his manager Mickey Modern, Heap and Kershaw recorded four demos that Mickey Modern took to Rondor Music. Consequently, a few months later Heap signed her first record contract at 18 to independent record label Almo Sounds. During 1996, Heap began working with an experimental pop band called Acacia, which featured her future collaborator Guy Sigsworth and was fronted by the singer Alexander Nilere. While never a full member of the band, Heap was a guest vocalist (as a counterpart to Nilere) and contributed to various Acacia single and album tracks in 1997. One Acacia song, "Maddening Shroud", would later be covered by Frou Frou.
Heap enjoyed a prestigious live début, performing four songs (backed by friends Acacia) between sets by The Who and Eric Clapton at the 1996 Prince's Trust Concert in Hyde Park, London. Her début album, I Megaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was internationally released in 1998 on independent record label Almo Sounds and garnered critical acclaim. However, as production of the album neared completion, it was announced that the record label had been sold and would be shut down. I-Megaphone featured collaborations with Guy Sigsworth and Dave Stewart. In Japan, the regional distributor, Zora, re-released the album in 2002, featuring "Blanket," her collaboration with Urban Species which was released as a single in the United Kingdom, and a Frou Frou remix of one of her B-sides, a video to which was released exclusively to Japanese media. Following the disbanding of her UK and USA record label, I Megaphone was scarce in circulation, having not been re-printed until November 2006. An independent Brazillian record label has rights to the record, and has issued limited copies, some of which are available on eBay. It has also been released through the iTunes Music Store under the Almo label.
At the same time as the Japanese re-release, Heap was working on new tracks with producer Guy Sigsworth, who had collaborated on "Getting Scared" from I-Megaphone. Together, they formed an electro-pop group Frou Frou, releasing an album called "Details" and singles, "Breathe In", "It's Good To Be In Love" and "Must Be Dreaming." The album was a full collaboration between the two artists. Frou Frou were approached to cover "Holding Out for a Hero", originally performed by Bonnie Tyler, for the soundtrack to the highly successful movie Shrek 2. An album track, "Let Go", was featured in the movie Garden State in 2004.
In December 2003, Heap announced on her web site that she was going to write and produce her second solo album, using her site as an online blog to update fans on progress, even seeking them to be her A&R team for the lyrics to "Daylight Robbery". Heap set herself a deadline of one year to make the album (she booked the album mastering for December 2004), and re-mortgaged her flat to fund production costs, including the use of studio time and instruments (which she purchased as a birthday present to herself). Having been burned by previous challenges with record labels (Heap had been spurned twice by record companies, when Almo Sounds was sold and when Frou Frou's label staff focused on promoting other acts), Heap decided to form her own record label on which to release the new record. At the end of 2004, Heap premiered two album tracks online, enabling fans to pay for a digital download, entitled "Just For Now" (which was up for a limited time as a Christmas gift), and "Goodnight And Go", which had been featured on the second season of hit US TV drama The O.C.
In April 2005, The O.C. season two finale featured another track, the sparse vocodered-vocal track, "Hide And Seek". The track was released immediately to digital download services such as iTunes where it became an instant fixture in the chart. The track was released as a digital download on the 5th July 2005 in the UK and peaked at #8 on the iTunes download chart.
The album, entitled "Speak For Yourself" was then released in the UK on July 18th 2005 on her own record label, Megaphonic Records. The album was also released on iTunes UK, where it entered the top 10, selling strongly. "Hide And Seek" also received radio attention from the popular UK radio station BBC Radio One, with DJ Scott Mills featuring it as his "Record of the Week", and provoking strong reactions ("love it or hate it") from other DJs at the station. Due to popular demand, the track was commercially released on a special limited edition (1500 copies were printed) 7" vinyl in the UK in September. Speak For Yourself was licensed to Sony BMG imprint RCA Victor in August 2005, enabling the record to be released in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was released in those territories in November, and Heap appeared on the Hotel Cafe Tour promoting the record. Imogen also performed "Goodnight And Go" on The Late Show with David Letterman on January 11, 2006. Heap is slated to continue touring in 2006 in the US and UK to support the record.
As well as TV soundtracks (Frou Frou and Heap's solo records have been featured in shows as varied as The O.C. to CSI, among others), Heap has also contributed solo tracks to movie soundtracks. Her cover of the song "Spooky" (made famous by the band Classics IV, and previously covered by Dusty Springfield) for the soundtrack to the Reese Witherspoon movie Just Like Heaven. Heap also wrote a special track entitled "Can't Take It In" for the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She has also appeared on the second soundtrack for the HBO television series "Six Feet Under", entitled "Six Feet Under Vol. 2: Everything Ends" with a 50-second track that closed the Season 4 episode "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)". Three versions were recorded and are available from Heap's official web site.
In addition to producing her own records, she has also produced a track for Nik Kershaw and has collaborated with artists as diverse as Joshua Radin, Jeff Beck, Temposhark, LHB, Way Out West, Jon Bon Jovi, Mich Gerber, Sean Lennon, Urban Species, Blue October, Jon Hopkins and Acacia.
Heap's 2009 album 'Ellipse' features Canvas, Aha! and Half Life.
Sites: Twitter
www.imogenheap.com
It takes alot
Imogen Heap Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm wide awake
Every hair on my body
Has got a thing for this place
Oh, empty my heart
I've got to make room for this feeling
It's so much bigger than me
I can't take it in
Weightless in love, unraveling
For all that's to come
And all that's ever been
We're back to the board
With every shade under the sun
Let's make it a good one
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
I can't take it in
La oh
I can't take it in
La oh
I can't take it in
Whoa
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
I can't take it in
More that I wonder
More than I ever needed
Whoa
More that I wonder
Oh
Imogen Heap's song "Can't Take It In" is a beautiful ode to the overwhelming feeling of being in love. The lyrics talk about being wide awake and unable to close one's eyes, as every hair on their body responds to the sensation of being in a special place. The singer talks about the need to empty their heart and make room for the immense feeling of love that's bigger than them. The singer of the song revels in the beauty of the moment and is thrilled about what's to come.
The song speaks to the emotions that people feel when they're truly in love. Those who have experienced this feeling before will find themselves nodding along to the song's lyrics as they're emotionally evocative, particularly the line "It's so much bigger than me." The singer can't help but feel the full force of their emotions, and the line, "I can't take it in" shows just how overwhelming those emotions are.
The song celebrates the joy of love, and the hope for the future, with the line "Let's make it a good one." It's a song that lifts your spirits and reminds you of the incredible beauty of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Can't close my eyes
I'm so excited and overwhelmed with emotions that I can't even bring myself to try to sleep
I'm wide awake
Despite the lateness of the hour, I am alert and too filled with energy to even think about resting
Every hair on my body
My entire physical being is absolutely consumed with this feeling
Has got a thing for this place
Every inch of me is focused on this moment and this experience
Oh, empty my heart
My heart is so full of emotion that it feels as though there's no space left inside of it
I've got to make room for this feeling
But somehow I know that I need to find space within myself to accommodate all of these strong emotions
It's so much bigger than me
This feeling is completely overwhelming and I feel small in comparison
It couldn't be anymore beautiful
This experience is truly magnificent and beyond description
Weightless in love, unraveling
I feel as though I'm floating in the intensity of my emotions, coming undone in an entirely unfamiliar way
For all that's to come
I'm thinking about everything that the future might hold, and how this moment will shape the rest of my life
And all that's ever been
I'm reflecting on the past, and how everything that's happened has led up to this moment
We're back to the board
We're starting over, with a clean slate and infinite possibilities stretching out before us
With every shade under the sun
We have endless choices and differing opinions, and we all bring our unique perspectives to the table
Let's make it a good one
Let's work together to create something amazing and meaningful that we'll all be proud of
I can't take it in
This experience is simply too much for me to fully comprehend or appreciate in this moment
More that I wonder
The more I think about this experience, the more amazed and curious I become
More than I ever needed
I never knew how much I wanted or needed this until I experienced it for myself
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: IMOGEN JENNIFER JANE HEAP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mickydidymus
It's her ingenious use of syncopation that makes this song so great. The keys in the background play inbetween beats in an unfamiliar and alluring way. She is an artist.
Vyron H.
Let's just put this song on repeat all day shall we??
natalie k
Done
Custard
Okay.
Ikan Doodat
Vyron Harrison or just Pandora of her and frau frau :-)
Jordon Smith
Vyron H. yup this is exactly what I did right away
Vyron H.
Its an amazing song! :)
Fox
This feels like my day. Going around, trying to find the one person I can share my life with, desperate for change in my life but torn when I don't seem to ever feel a connection. The 'have you got it in you' repeating and 'look can we just get it over with' feels like this internal pressure inside me. They're never there. Maybe I'm too shallow. Maybe I'm not enough. Maybe I'll never find the one. The more I think on it, the more hopeless it seems until you just want to say--I don't care who I'm with. Just let me be with someone.
I just want to want someone.
thejacrispylife
This song sounded uninterested to me at first. But after playing this for band and listening closer, it easily become something I can listen to for hours. She has such a way with building up the music and using her voice for extra effect for the chorus. Such a unique song!
Meoau
I love the slow build up of energy in this song. She has such an incredible unique style.