9/10

This latest album from Imogen Heap has been one of the most drawn out in recent memory. A concept album that brings together fan-provided sound bites, motion-activated instruments and collaborations have meant that this record has been more than three years in the making. The overarching idea behind the record is to accentuate how music is dictated by the technology that is available to make it and wind up with a collection of songs all created from various new sources that more than a decade ago would have been impossible to make. While it's all very fascinating on paper, has the music itself still managed to capture the interest of the listener like it should always do?

'Sparks' is still for the most part a very Imogen Heap record. It uses a very haunting style of production that Heap effortlessly coats with her transcendent voice and ultimately looks to captivate the listener with a variety of sound and the extra knowledge of how each track was conceived. What really works on this new record is the diversity, as each track is built from a different angle of technological expertise, they have all had meticulous detail added to each of them to make sure that every song is as perfectly recorded as possible and highlights all the areas of inspiration individually.

It certainly isn't a phoned in collection of songs in any way, as each one looks to surprise and dazzle every time. This is what you get when you combine a genuine musical talent with a flare for technology, a record that is as impressive as it is original.