WATCH: IMOGEN - 'Sleeptight'

Poking my head above the parapet to share a track I'm a little bit in love with at the moment... taken from the upcoming Bloodbag EP (due 28th October via 7476) the track is Sleeptight from IMOGEN. Transitioning from the tender piano-ballads and acoustic numbers of her earlier releases, she's experienced somewhat of a musical and personal rebirth - the tracks, videos, performance and image all combining to present us with a powerhouse to be reckoned with. 

Following complex surgery for a condition she was born with, Imogen became temporarily infirm, and the experience inspired her to investigate the agency that women have over their own bodies and health. Title track Bloodbag and follow-up Lioncub looked at questions of identity and bodily dissociation.

On the new track, she shares: "Sleeptight deals with the societal treatment of women's bodies and the reluctance we have to believe women's accounts of misconduct. The premise being 'if you don't believe me, I hope it haunts you.' It was a conscious decision to set this anger against a big pop track. I guess I found the easiest way to process and deliver the message was to create something that people could dance and lose themselves to. My favourite pop songs are often like Trojan horses. In 'Sleeptight' I want people to be able to find empowerment and release. It's definitely one of my favourite tracks to perform live."     

IMOGEN plays an EP launch show at Bermondsey Social Club on 27th October - tickets here. 

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WATCH: IMOGEN - 'Bloodbag'

A lovely bit of serendipity for you today, with news of sorts from two artists who have overcome their fair share of adversity, and brought us beautiful music along the way. I'd planned to share the new track from IMOGEN, and to write about how I'd first discovered her through her support set for Sivu at a London show a few years back. With Sivu firmly on my mind, it was a surprise (and a delight) to find a new documentary style clip on his socials yesterday. The clip explores his Meniere's Disease diagnosis (an ear condition which can lead to dizzy spells/vertigo and hearing loss - less than ideal for a musician), his use of hearing aids and his journey back to creating music with producer Charlie Andrew. 

More on Sivu soon, I hope. For now: Imogen. She too has a similarly inspirational (but entirely different) story, with surgery a few years back leaving her needing to learn to walk again. If I remember correctly, the show I caught her at was her first after having had surgery. Brand new track Bloodbag, her first since 2019, focuses on the adversity she has overcome, reflecting the trauma she has lived through and the strength and power she has found through the experience. Moving away from the piano ballads of old, the track is awash with drums, brass and synths, creating somewhat of a cacophony at the track's climax.

The video (below) was directed by Harv Frost (Matilda Mann, Phoebe Green, Molly Burman) and portrays Imogen ascending a spiral staircase into an endless light. 

On the track, she shares: "I wanted to write something that depicted the feeling of being out of kilter with yourself - grasping for some sort of control over your mind, body, existence. I took my literal experiences and used them as imagery to explain some complicated feelings, what happened in the end was an exorcism." 

Not only is Imogen creating gorgeous music (and there's plenty more where this one came from) but she is a director on the Ivors Academy Board and co-chair of the Youth Council. Through both, she is a passionate activist within the industry, working to make the industry safer and more accessible. I absolutely love this! 

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LIVE: Sivu at King's Place (15/2/18)

This write-up has been a little while coming, but I just had to talk about the stunning Sivu gig I went to a couple of weeks ago at King's Place. I did a little calendar digging before the show and worked out that I hadn't been to a gig in nearly two months, the longest gap between shows since before I started university in 2014. I was particularly excited because of this, and there was probably more than a little extra pressure for it to be a special night, and he delivered in bucket loads.



Sivu has released some of my favourite music of the last few years between his recent record Sweet Sweet Silent and 2014 debut Something On High, which very quickly became an album of the year for me at the time, and it's always a joy to catch him playing live. He's just been on a tour supporting John Smith around the UK, and took time in between shows to play this one-off headline show in London (with a string quartet, no less!) Not only was he performing with an all-female quartet, but both support acts were female. It feels almost ridiculous that this is something that strikes me as unusual or worthy of praise, but with the intensity of male-dominated line-ups both at gigs and festivals, this was incredibly refreshing.

Gender aside, the whole line-up was magical. First up was Malena Zavala, armed with an electric guitar and delivering some really dreamy, soothing tunes - her single Could You Stay is below, taken from upcoming debut album Aliso. Next, before Sivu took to the stage, Imogen. Barely able to mask her excitement at playing the venue's Steinway piano, she had another reason to be pretty excited - this was her first live show since having surgery last year. If there were any nerves it certainly didn't show, her vocals were incredibly powerful and her songs moving - there's an EP coming out soon, so look out for that!

Once it was time for Sivu to take the stage I felt as if I'd already got my money's worth for the show - always an impressive and gratifying thought. It turns out it could only continue to get better, as he delivered a set with The Mangan Quartet (led by Kirsty Mangan, who composed all the string parts for both of his records) beautifully recreating tracks from both records. Particular highlights for me were the non-album track Cold Hands and Sleep from the first record - both are big favourites of mine, but there really weren't any weak links in the set, every track had clearly been so carefully rehearsed, and the strings worked so perfectly. Throughout the set, it was clear that Sivu was humbly overwhelmed by both the turnout and the incredibly positive response to each song, writing on Twitter the morning after that it was "my favourite show ever" - a fairly positive review, I reckon! It truly was something special.

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