Ellipse (album)

Ellipse is the third studio album from British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap. After returning from a round the world writing trip, Heap completed the album at her childhood home in Essex, converting her old playroom in the basement into a studio. The album got its name from the distinctive elliptical shape of the house.[2] The album's title was confirmed by Heap via her Twitter page on 25 April 2009, after being leaked onto the internet on 23 April. On 15 June, Heap confirmed that the album would be released on 24 August 2009 in the United Kingdom on Megaphonic Records and 25 August in North America on RCA Records and Epic Records and distributed by Sony BMG.

Ellipse
Studio album by Imogen Heap
Released	24 August 2009[1]
Recorded	March 2007 – June 2009
Genre	Electronica ambient
Length	48:43
Label	Megaphonic RCA Epic Sony BMG
Producer	Imogen Heap
Imogen Heap chronology
Live Session (2006) Ellipse (2009) iTunes Festival: London '07 (2009)
Imogen Heap studio album chronology
Speak For Yourself (2005) Ellipse (2009) Sparks (2014)
Singles from Ellipse
"First Train Home" Released: 14 July 2009

Subject matter in the songs includes post break-up malaise ("Wait It Out"), domestic boredom ("Little Bird"), body image issues ("Bad Body Double") and a common Heap theme, unrequited love ("Swoon" and "Half Life"). On 17 August 2009 Heap made the album available for live streaming via her webpage.[3] The album can no longer be streamed via her webpage but was moved to SoundCloud.[4]

Background

In July 2009, a promotional copy of the album (designed by Andy Hau[5]) appeared on eBay; Heap in return placed a bid of £10,000,000 to try to reclaim the album, which eBay rejected.[6] As of 8 July, eBay had ended the auction.[7] On 14 July, the first single "First Train Home" was released, and a digital pre-order for the album became available on iTunes in two versions.

The deluxe version includes instrumental tracks of the entire album. Both standard and deluxe editions feature a "Behind the scenes" video when pre-ordered. As the song "The Fire" is already an instrumental, the "instrumental" version on the Deluxe edition's second disc consists of just the crackling fire in the background of the song proper. The solo piano track, without the fire sounds, was included only on the Deluxe CD copy of the album, as a hidden track at the end of "Half Life"; digital copies omit this hidden track.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[8]
The A.V. Club	C[9]
Billboard	3.5/5[10]
The Boston Globe	Favourable[11]
The Daily Telegraph	[12]
The Guardian	[13]
Paste	8.0/10[14]
PopMatters	[15]
Slant	[16]
Sputnikmusic	[17]

Critical response to Ellipse was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 68, based on 12 reviews.[18] It also earned her a further two Grammy Nominations on 2 December for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "The Fire" and Best Engineered Non-Classical Album. On 31 January 2010, it was announced that Heap had won the latter award.

Commercial performance

As of 2011, the album had sold 161,000 copies in United States.[19]

Live performances

In October 2008, Heap travelled to America to perform at Pop!Tech in Camden, Maine. She performed the song 'Wait It Out' live, for the first time ever on 24 October.[20] The performance was recorded and released on Youtube.com the following day.[21][22]

On 24 August 2009, Heap appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman (although the episode didn't air until the 28th) and performed "First Train Home". On her Twitter page, Imogen admitted that she messed up on the second line of the second verse during the performance.

The following day, on 25 August, Imogen headed to the WNYC Radio Station in New York to play "First Train Home" and "Half Life" on air and give a short interview.[23]

Track listing

On 8 June, Heap confirmed the following as the album's official and final track listing:

All tracks are written by Imogen Heap.

Standard edition (Disc 1)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"First Train Home"	4:13
2.	"Wait It Out"	3:57
3.	"Earth"	3:34
4.	"Little Bird"	4:07
5.	"Swoon"	3:54
6.	"Tidal"	3:50
7.	"Between Sheets"	2:54
8.	"2-1" (formerly "Polyfilla")	4:42
9.	"Bad Body Double"	4:07
10.	"Aha!"	2:27
11.	"The Fire"	1:59
12.	"Canvas"	4:55
13.	"Half Life"	4:02
Total length:		48:41

Japan bonus track

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Not Now But Soon"	3:46
Total length:		52:27

Deluxe edition (Disc 2)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"First Train Home" (instrumental)	4:15
2.	"Wait It Out" (instrumental)	3:47
3.	"Earth" (instrumental)	3:35
4.	"Little Bird" (instrumental)	4:08
5.	"Swoon" (instrumental)	3:52
6.	"Tidal" (instrumental)	3:51
7.	"Between Sheets" (instrumental)	2:55
8.	"2-1" (instrumental)	4:43
9.	"Bad Body Double" (instrumental)	4:07
10.	"Aha!" (instrumental)	2:27
11.	"The Fire" ("instrumental")	1:57
12.	"Canvas" (instrumental)	4:55
13.	"Half Life" (instrumental) / "The Fire" (piano instrumental; only on CD pressing)	6:13
Total length:		1:39:26

iTunes exclusive pre-order video

No.	Title	Length
14.	"Behind the Scenes with Imogen"

Personnel

• Imogen Heap – programming, vocals, producer, engineer, design, sounds, lyrics
• Leo Abrahams – electric guitar
• Ian Burdge – cello
• Arve Henriksen – trumpet
• Oliver Langford – violin
• Richie Mills – drums
• Nitin Sawhney – acoustic guitar
• Ashwin Srinivasan – background vocals, bansuri
• Zhang Jian and Christiaan Virant – Buddha Machine

Production

• Projection concept and production – Jennie Hancock and Ewan Robertson
• Ellipse swirl logo - Andy Hau
• Management – Mark Wood
• Design – Richard Bull
• Projections – Annelieke Bosdijk, Albert Q Bui, Jessica Butler, Alex Carmichal, Randall Dameron, J. Daniel Geddis, Vladislav Gusarov, Adriane Lake, Nick Moulakis, Nathan Nye, Michelle Thomas
• Photography – Jeremy Cowart
• Mastering engineer – Simon Heyworth
• Mastering assistant – Joe Gilder

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[24]	4
UK Albums Chart[25]	39
US Billboard 200[26]	5
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[27]	1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[28]	4
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[29]	3

Release history

Country	Date
United Kingdom	24 August 2009
France, Asia, US	25 August 2009
Canada, Mexico, Japan	2 September 2009
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Italy, Benelux, Greece	14 September 2009
Poland	28 September 2009
Hungary, Australia	19 February 2010[30]

References

1. "Ellipse | News". Imogen Heap. Archived from the original on 26 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
2. Songfacts
3. "Ellipse | News". Imogen Heap. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
4. "Ellipse Album on SoundCloud". Imogen Heap. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
5. "Imogen Heap". Andyhau.com. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
6. Kernohan, Marcus. "Imogen Heap in £10m bid… for her own CD". stereokill.net. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
7. Fusilli, Jim (8 July 2009). "With Help From Fans, British Music Star Imogen Heap Solves an eBay Crisis". The Wall Street Journal.
8. Ellipse at AllMusic
9. Koski, Genevieve (25 August 2009). "Imogen Heap: Ellipse · Music Review · The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
10. Mason, Kerri. "Review: Imogen Heap, "Ellipse"". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
11. "Imogen Heap, 'Ellipse' - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
12. Culture (24 August 2009). "Imogen Heap: Ellipse, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
13. Sullivan, Caroline (14 August 2009). "Review: Imogen Heap, Ellipse (Megaphonic)". Film & Music. London: Guardian Media Group (14 August 2009): 9. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
14. duBrowa, Corey. "Review: Imogen Heap, "Ellipse"". Retrieved 27 August 2009.
15. Lyndal, Erin. "Imogen Heap: Ellipse". PopMatters. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
16. "Music". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
17. "Imogen Heap - Ellipse (album review 3)". Sputnikmusic. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
18. "Ellipse Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
19. Lipshultz, Jason (28 March 2011). "Imogen Heap Talks New Album, Fan-Created First Song". Billboard. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
20. "Twitter / Imogen Heap: wow.. what an amazing day!". Twitter.com. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
21. "imogen heap - wait it out (live at pop!tech) (with lyrics)". YouTube. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
22. "Imogen Heap PopTech performance". YouTube. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
23. "Imogen performs 'First Train Home' and 'Half Life' live on WNYC's Soundcheck". New York City, NY, USA. 25 August 2009. Archived from the original on 17 August 2009.
24. "Imogen Heap Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
25. UK Albums Chart
26. "Imogen Heap Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
27. "Imogen Heap Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
28. "Imogen Heap Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
29. "Imogen Heap Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
30. "Ellipse | Music , Music Genres, Pop/Rock : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. 19 February 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2012.