Imogen Heap
Ellipse - RCA
FILTER Grade: 81%

Imogen Heap’s follow-up to Hide and Seek had been gestating in the womb of her living-room studio for several years. An electro-pop auteur prone to insatiable tinkering, Heap has cannily generated interest in the long-running project through endearing vlogs and Tweets. She’s like Trent Reznor, only kookier. Utilizing a similar sonic palette as its predecessor, Ellipse is all Pro-Tools graft. If songs such as “Earth” and “Tidal” feel encumbered by all the stratified layers of vocals, rhythms, and keyboard effects, their baroque mantles at least rest on a bedrock of indelible melodies. Heap has a keen ear for dynamics. The unexpected geyser of exuberance midway through “Swoon,” for example, makes it one of many tunes that will surely jostle for release as a single. And on the album highlight, “Canvas,” the desperation in Heap’s voice is echoed by traumatized violins as she wails, “I just can’t find the strength to pull you back.” For all its shipwrecked romances, Ellipse doesn’t wallow in misery. In “Bad Body Double,” Heap even uses self-deprecating humor to fret about body issues before a date. Ultimately, that’s what distinguishes Heap: Her voice, by turns flighty and forlorn, has an honest personality often missing in pop.