IAMX

Face of the Band, Chris Corner

Think you're giving but you're taking my life away...

IAMX is a British indie/alternative/electronic act consisting of Chris Corner, the band and occasionally his ex-partner, Sue Denim, of Robots In Disguise fame. IAMX began after Sneaker Pimps' fourth album was shelved and Chris decided to work on his own music instead of focusing on fixing the album. 2004 saw the release of IAMX's debut album, Kiss + Swallow, which, with the help of Sue, dealt with topics such as sex, destructive relationships, sex, lies, sex , the destructive and ultimately collapsing nature of modern society, and for good measure, sex. Kiss + Swallow was followed in 2006 by The Alternative, a Darker and Edgier album that delved into surrealist imagery, political dissertations, mental instability, and unstable relationships. After The Alternative came Kingdom of Welcome Addiction, wherein Chris discusses modern society, incest, the doomed nature of the modern world, alcoholism and other fun topics. The album also had the help of "My Secret Friend", a collaborative effort between Chris and Imogen Heap. While the song itself was amazing, the video, which featured some rather attractive feats of cross dressing, was acclaimed by nearly all who saw it, and was promptly ignored by everyone else. IAMX's latest album, Volatile Times, dealt with many of themes previously mentioned (mainly political instability and dysfunctional relationships) and added new topics like probable insanity, atheism and bigotry to the mix.

Part of the sheer appeal of IAMX comes from the amazing diversity of the music involved in the songs, especially when combined with Chris' voice. His refusal to pull punches in his lyrics, sheer conviction, and the constant exploration of topics that many bands won't touch are all part of the amazing fucked-up-ness that is IAMX.

IAMX have been slowly growing in popularity, thanks to both the geographically-wide touring and large number of collaborative efforts. While their popularity lies mainly in Germany, they are loved worldwide and will undoubtedly remain so for a long time.

See also Sneaker Pimps.

Discography:

• Kiss + Swallow (2004)
• The Alternative (2006)
• Live In Warsaw (Live album, 2008)
• Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction (2009)
• Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (Remix album, 2010)
• Volatile Times (2011)

IAMX provides examples of the following tropes:

• Anti-Love Song: "Missile" is about a destructive relationship and the real damage it can do.
  • "Nature Of Inviting", "Your Joy Is My Low", "You Stick It In Me", "Spit It Out"...
• Bishonen: In the video for "My Secret Friend", Chris is dressed as a girl and Imogen is dressed as a man. And he makes a really pretty girl.
• Brother-Sister Incest: "My Secret Friend", according to Word of God.
• Concept Video: The first music video of "Missile." Chris is slowly being drowned in a bathtub; messages pasted onto the tape binding him alternate between saying 'Love me', 'Hate me' and 'Help me'.
• Creator Couple: Chris and Sue Denim of Robots in Disguise for a long time until they broke up. She co-wrote some of his songs and sang on several more, including some Sneaker Pimps songs.
• Mr. Fanservice: Chris is ridiculously pretty.
• Fun with Acronyms: 'S.H.E', which stands for 'Secret Harmonic Emotion'.
• God Is Evil: "I Salute You Christopher" has Chris describing God as 'a tyrant and a lonely psychopath/dreamed up to steal your minds'.
  • The song, incidentally, is dedicated to the late, great antitheist Christopher Hitchens
• Ho Yay: Ohhhh boy. Where to start... Well, 'Sailor' is commonly believed to be about Chris Corner's struggle with his sexuality- other people think it's about a gay threesome. He kissed Noel Fielding on stage at a concert in a decidedly non platonic manner. Numerous other songs contain references/implications/hints of bisexuality.
• Intercourse with You: 'Sailor', 'Kiss + Swallow', 'You Stick It In Me', 'The Alternative', "Skin Vision"...
• Lyrical Dissonance: 'Heatwave', a peppy song about a guy who's struck down by heatstroke and ends up hallucinating a beautiful blonde woman.
  • Along with "Missile", "My Secret Friend", "Tear Garden", "Song of Imaginary Beings", "Simple Girl", "Lulled By Numbers"...
• Playing to The Fetishes: The second video for "Missile".
• Room Full of Crazy: "Ghosts of Utopia"
• Single-Stanza Song: "Nightlife"
• Stalking Is Love: Subverted with the second (there were two versions, a low budget and a high budget) music video for 'Missile' (but not the actual song, which is about a destructive relationship). An attractive blonde woman (his ex-partner, Sue Denim) engages Chris in what might best be called softcore BDSM, however in the last frame she forces him to take some kind of pill, and we realise this was her intention all along.
• Surreal Music Video: 'Spit It Out': Chris dances. Then he lies down. Then he dances again. Then he shakes his girlfriend. Then he runs across the room. Then he kisses her. Etc, etc.
  • The video for 'My Secret Friend'. The scenery is fucked up.
  • The video for "Ghosts Of Utopia" too.
  • And "Bernadette"
• Take That: Chris often mocks the kind of people who hate his music, including religion: Your Supermarket Jesus comes with smiles and lies/Where justice he delays is always justice he denies
• Trrrilling Rrrs: Chris does this in a few of his songs.
• Word Salad Lyrics: Chris has a rather bad tendency to not make any sense.