Speak for Yourself

1	Headlock 3:36
2	Goodnight and Go 3:52
3	Have You Got It in You? 4:10
4	Loose Ends 3:40
5	Hide and Seek 4:28
6	Clear the Area 4:14
7	Daylight Robbery 3:21
8	The Walk 5:14
9	Just for Now 3:00
10	I Am in Love with You 3:08
11	Closing In 4:48
12	The Moment I Said It 8:30

Barnes & Noble

Like Björk, Imogen Heap seems to struggle to balance her impulses for structured pop with her desire for experimental art. While the Icelandic chanteuse keeps moving further and further to the "art" side, the British Heap slides seamlessly along the pop/art continuum, and she's all the more alluring as a result. After collaborating with Guy Sigsworth on her first solo album and then in the band Frou Frou, Heap wrote and produced Speak for Yourself herself using clipped, glitchy beats, synthetic strings, bubbly keyboard effects, and occasional guitars. On the pop end of the spectrum, songs like the bouncy "Loose Ends" and the shimmery "Goodnight and Go" (which also appeared on Music from the O.C., Mix 4) feature memorable choruses and conventional structures; "Loose Ends" is full of kinetic energy, "Goodnight" a seductive ballad. On the art end, the a cappella "Hide and Seek" is eerie and haunting, and the buzzy "Daylight Robbery" is dense and dark (it's reminiscent of '80s shoe-gazers like Curve -- and that's a good thing). And in the middle ground, which is the heart of the album, lie songs such as the spare "Headlock" and the ethereal, Kate Bush–like "Just for Now," which balance beautifully introspective melodies with unexpected dynamic shifts and heavily processed backing vocals. With her breathy alto, Imogen Heap has crafted an impressive, widely varied yet coherent album, one that continues to enchant with repeated listens. Steve Klinge

All Music Guide

The U.S. debut solo album by Frou Frou vocalist Imogen Heap is a captivating record that fuses innovative electronic soundscapes with a strong female voice. If "Goodnight and Go" -- a lilting, pulsating, and hit-ready concoction -- and the alluring, synthesized pop of "Hide and Seek" are the most direct numbers, experimental numbers like the ethereal "Have You Got It in You?" plus the rhythm-fueled "Headlock" and "Loose Ends" suggest Heap has written and produced the finest electro/alt rock CD of 2005. By the time the eclectic, innovative "Closing In" arrives late in the cycle of Speak for Yourself, there's little denying it. John D. Luerssen