Title: Let Go
Artist: Frou Frou
Year: 2002
Album: Details
The UK duo Frou Frou released their only record in 2002 although, truth be told, I was unaware of them until 2004 when the song "Let It Go" appeared on the excellent Garden State: Soundtrack. But to really understand how behind the times I am (or perhaps just generally clueless), I had no idea the singer was Imogen Heap until I started researching the song for this post. Heap has since gone on to win a Grammy as a solo artist and warm the hearts of emotionless 40-somethings everywhere. Wait....what?
I think Imogen Heap is okay and I'll probably feature her 2005 hit "Hide and Seek" when I get to that year in a few months. But I find her voice emotionless and her lyrics empty. Some of which plays to her advantage when she's paired with Guy Sigsworth's ice cold synth creations on Details. Sigsworth's tone palette on "Let Go" is reminiscent of the Fairlight patches Peter Gabriel's was so fond of in the early 80s. Heap drifts in and out of her head voice, infusing every line with gobs of air. The arrangement/production expertly accounts for dynamic changes in her voice with swells of synthy strings swirling with semitones. Lyrically, the song is a bit of a mess, but the chorus connects. Despite its flaws, it's one of my favorite tracks from the early 2000s.
Until the morrow!
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