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
Pocket Sun
Imogen Heap Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
See how I breathe the bubbles
Pick a few stars out for a cloudy night
I could tame damien
My love infectious bites you
I have a pocket sun boy
I'm everything that burns in you
Yeah in my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
In my element day, I know I can feel the dawn
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
I know I can feel the dawn
Peel the skin of love and lay it on me
My window wide and open
Free fall from the moon
My earth, my friend will catch me
I'm a carbonator
I'm the fizz for all I want to be
I'll free the sword
I'm the killer for all that hurts in me
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
In my element day, I know I can feel the dawn
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
I know I can feel the dawn
Faint reminders of the rerun flicks of old days
Caught in iron till it melts and bleeds them life
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
In my element day, I know I can feel the dawn
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
I know I can feel the dawn, feel the dawn
In my evergreen day
In my evergreen day
In my evergreen day
In my evergreen day
In my evergreen day
In my evergreen day
I know I can feel the dawn
The lyrics to Imogen Heap's song Pocket Sun are filled with vivid and imaginative imagery. The opening line "Hold your head down in a ducking pond, see how I breathe the bubbles" creates a visceral sensation and suggests a sense of submersion, potentially symbolizing being in over one's head or feeling overwhelmed. The following line "Pick a few stars out for a cloudy night" is a hopeful and optimistic image, suggesting that even in darkness there is still light to be found.
The next stanza begins with the provocative declaration "I could tame Damien," which could be referencing a person or an aspect of the singer's own psyche. The line "My love infectious bites you" suggests that the singer's love has a powerful effect on the person in question. The phrase "pocket sun" is repeated throughout the song and seems to represent the singer's own inner light and warmth.
The chorus is an affirmation of the singer's ability to feel alive and empowered in their own skin: "In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day, in my element day, I know I can feel the dawn." The repetition of the phrase "in my" emphasizes the personal and intimate nature of this feeling. The closing lines of the song, "Faint reminders of the rerun flicks of old days, caught in iron till it melts and bleeds them life," suggest a sense of nostalgia and the passing of time.
Line by Line Meaning
Hold your head down in a ducking pond
Take your head underwater and hold it there.
See how I breathe the bubbles
Notice the bubbles coming out of my mouth as I hold my breath.
Pick a few stars out for a cloudy night
Choose some stars to brighten up a dark and cloudy night.
I could tame damien
I have the ability to control a wild and untamed person named Damien.
My love infectious bites you
My contagious love has a powerful effect on you.
I have a pocket sun boy
I am like a sun and carry its energy with me, making me a bright and powerful force to be reckoned with.
I'm everything that burns in you
I embody all of the passion and intensity within you.
Peel the skin of love and lay it on me
Strip away the superficial layers of love and show me its true essence.
My window wide and open
My mind is receptive and open to new experiences.
Free fall from the moon
Experience the excitement and danger of falling from the moon's surface.
My earth, my friend will catch me
I trust that the earth, a symbol for stability and grounding, will support and protect me.
I'm a carbonator
I am like a carbonated beverage, full of effervescence and energy.
I'm the fizz for all I want to be
I am the driving force behind achieving my goals and aspirations.
I'll free the sword
I will release the weapon that I possess, symbolizing my inner strength and ability to defend myself.
I'm the killer for all that hurts in me
I have the power to overcome and eliminate all of the emotional pain and trauma that I have experienced.
Faint reminders of the rerun flicks of old days
Vague memories of old movies that have been watched before resurface in my mind.
Caught in iron till it melts and bleeds them life
Trapped by the unyielding constraints of tradition and social norms until they slowly crumble and give way to freedom and vitality.
I know I can feel the dawn
I am confident in my ability to experience new beginnings and fresh starts, like the dawning of a new day.
Contributed by Asher I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
NERV287
This song is amazing, I tried to think of a way to describe how amazing it is but I couldn't come up with anything good enough, Imogen is just too much.
tropicwave1
Pocket Sun
Imogen Heap
Album: B-Sides and Unreleased
Hold your head down in a ducking pond
See how I breathe the bubbles
Pick a few stars out for a cloudy night
I could tame damien
My love infectious bites you
I have a pocket sun boy
I'm everything that burns in you
Yeah in my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
In my element day, I know I can feel the dawn
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
I know I can feel the dawn
Peel the skin of love and lay it on me
My window wide and open
Free fall from the moon
My earth, my friend will catch me
I'm a carbonator
I'm the fizz for all I want to be
I'll free the sword
I'm the killer for all that hurts in me
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
In my element day, I know I can feel the dawn
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
I know I can feel the dawn
Faint reminders of the rerun flicks of old days
Caught in iron till it melts and bleeds them life
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
In my element day, I know I can feel the dawn
In my evergreen day, in my beautiful day
I know I can feel the dawn, feel the dawn
In my evergreen day x6
I know I can feel the dawn
LookADinosaur
I love this song!!! Thank you for putting it up!
visceraViSAGE
This feels very Tori Amos (who I also love). Immi is such a talented woman.
Katherine Land
great song
Francis Broka
Thanks, thanks !
Red Adept
@midnightsuicider Complaining about hipsters is so mainstream :P