NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ RCA Records) - British singer- songwriter- producer and two time Grammy nominee
Imogen Heap is set to release her much anticipated new solo album Ellipse on August 4th 2009 through RCA Records.
The same day Imogen wrapped up her tour in support of her last breakthrough album Speak For Yourself, she delved into the writing process for Ellipse. Without so much as unpacking, Heap spun Google Earth around a few times to plot some destinations to begin writing. She began in Hawaii "because it was the furthest landmass from any other landmass in a large amount of blue" and worked her way through Fiji, Tasmania, Japan, China and Thailand. Accompanied by only a small writing set up, Ellipse began to take shape. Imogen then returned home to continue work on the record and remained true to her do-it-yourself ethos, building her new studio in the "playroom" of her old family home in Essex, UK, (an 18th century "oval villa" restored by her parents) which she took on the responsibilities for just before the start of the record.
Imogen continues to explore the Artist/Audience relationship she has developed with her fans. She enlisted those who follow her on Twitter (330,000 and counting!) to submit Tweets which were then shaped into her album biography. Imogen kept her fans up-to-date on the recording process by posting 38 vBlogs, which are all available on her website. Upfront of the new album, Imogen even invited fans to complete an unfinished track "The Song That Never Was". She provided the lyrics, and over 500 fans added backing music to create their own versions. The result would have been record breaking, had she opted to register it beforehand!
Since spearheading the DIY music movement, support from her fans allowed Imogen both critical and commercial breakthroughs, including her Grammy nominations and half a million record sales. Imogen's music has been licensed by some of the most popular films and TV programs including The OC, The Chronicles of Narnia and Garden State. Imogen was at the forefront of the online explosion, leading UK's The Guardian to title her "the first download diva". She maintains one of the biggest profiles online, with more than 40 million plays and over 350,000 friends on MySpace and over 7 million views on You Tube for "Hide and Seek", the standout single from Speak For Yourself.
Imogen continues to be the artists' artist of choice when it comes to collaborations, notably on Nitin Sawhney's critically acclaimed current album "London Undersound", with former Sneaker Pimp's IAMX on "Secret Friend", and more recently teaming up with multi-platinum music artist Mika to write with and produce a song on his new album due out later this year.
