Known for her wild ‘Imogenation’, Heap has always reworked pop with tech, but her new data-mining project is her boldest yet. She explains why ‘you can’t stop progress’ It’s a very Imogen Heap way to say hello: “I’ve got to show you this thing – it’s going to change your life!” She beams at me, showing off a mysterious black device. The musician and technologist is an electric, eccentric presence even on video call, talking passionately and changing thoughts like a rally driver turns corners. She whirls me from her kitchen floor to her living room in her family home in Havering near London, familiar to thousands of fans (AKA Heapsters) who tune in to watch her improvise, via livestream, on a grand piano. She points to a glamorous white tent on the edge of a well-kept lawn: “That’s my tent I’ve been sleeping in, by the way,” she laughs, enjoying the surprise. Continue reading...

Formerly reviled music technology is more popular than ever as designers experiment for a growing group of enthusiasts Queen refused to use them. The Musicians’ Union tried to ban them. Then computers overtook them. Synthesisers have been mocked, despised and discarded throughout their history, yet somehow they are entering a new golden era. A new wave of synth makers has emerged, creating machines that are more ambitious and often quirkier than their bleep-making predecessors, feeding the appetites of an expanding pool of enthusiasts. Continue reading...