Heap's superb voice shy a groove

By THACHER SCHMID
Special to the Journal Sentinel

Posted: May 25, 2006

Live, there is no fault in Imogen Heap's breathy, crystalline soprano. On "Hide & Seek," one of the more unique tunes of late, Heap soared Wednesday night at The Rave to a note high enough to land a spot on the TV show "The O.C."

Heap's songwriting embraces spacious and thunderous choruses, and her pointillist lyrics suggest a complicated heart of darkness. Her piano playing is solid, and Wednesday she played a lovely, sparse version of "Let Go," the hit from the "Garden State" movie soundtrack when she was half of duo Frou Frou.

What causes problems in Heap's indulgent, do-it-all-yourself approach - she shoulders the writing, arranging, producing, playing and singing duties on 2005's "Speak for Yourself" and in concert - is uneven production, a weak groove.

Specifically, Heap's crisp, computer-fabricated compositions offer the melodic and tonal complexity one might expect from a talented singer and pianist. But they lack dirt; the rhythms aren't on a par with the melodies.

It's not that Heap is a bad producer; she isn't. But the watered-down "trip pop" bass lines inspire no booty shaking. The Rave offered candlelit tables, and an appreciative crowd of 300 applauded lustily, but no one danced during the 78-minute set.

At times, Heap echoed ancient Celtic tribes, albeit filtered through tech-savvy classicism. The background noise and cell phone chatter during opener Zoe Keating's set ceased when Heap twirled in a coral blouse and turquoise skirt, elicited laughs with oh-so-Brit stage patter and off-handedly asked the crowd for a lyric to start a tune.

Fusing Laurie Anderson (minus the violin), Tori Amos (minus the politics) and Bjork (minus Reykjavik), Heap showed she is a world-class vocal talent. If this 27-year-old can be humble enough to search for a rhythmic counterpoint - not the guy in drag doing the sound but a great drummer or DJ - she might find freedom through limitation.

Cellist Keating's technique foreshadowed Heap's: Both women used samplers and delays, slowly building songs one element at a time. Unfortunately, Keating's nuanced instrumentals relied on elements like spiccato bowing, harmonics and finger-tapping, all hard to hear over the noise coming from the bar. (Keating did, however, add much warmth to the three songs she played during Heap's set, when the crowd was listening.) Keating's gurgling tunes encompassed good technique, but the barefoot performer did not convincingly explore the cello's lower register and rhythmic possibilities; there was a lack of funk, again paralleling Heap.