There's far more to Imogen Heap than simply Hide & Seek, infamously used on the OC and more recently butchered by Jason Derulo. Explore deeper and there's an extensive back catalogue of three quality albums (four if you include Frou Frou). Fans have been anticipating new material - they won't be disappointed.
Initially Propeller Seeds sounds fairly basic, with predominantly crystalline percussive synth and Heap's breathy vocal. But as the track progresses a soundscape is built with extraneous sound effects and instrumentation fading in and out of hearing, referencing a wealth of influences, from jazz to dance music. Though some of the speech samples are a bit distracting, the depth of sound has a real three-dimensional feel; the overall effect is a sense of calm amongst a busy urban cinematic soundscape. The sound design is subtle but really aids the storytelling of the lyrics.
And then it slowly fades out, the lyrics questioning "What does this story hold for us?". We'll just have to wait for the album in full.
4/5
To buy the single, visit the Imogen Heap homepage.
