Imogen Heap

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Music purists may gripe about the role that The O.C. played in promoting ‘obscure’ indie to its angst-ridden, hyper-receptive audience, but the programme was instrumental in bringing new talent to mainstream attention. Rachael Yamagata, Rooney and Youth Group are just a handful of musicians to have experienced ‘The O.C. effect’ in the finicky US market, and in that respect, Imogen Heap is no different.

For those of us on this side of the world, Heap – whose hardcore fans have the maddening habit of calling her ‘Immi’ – was around way before Marissa Cooper graced television with her crazy drug-addled antics. The once-dreadlocked Brit kicked off her career with future Frou Frou collaborator Guy Sigsworth, known for his production work with Björk, Madonna and Alanis Morissette; it makes sense, then, that Heap’s first album, the anagrammatic iMegaphone (take that, Apple) has more than a hint of Jagged Little Pill – the raw, emotive vocals and feisty, scorned-femme image of girl-power indie that dominated ’90s MTV alongside Tracy Bonham and the more conventional pop singer Chantal Kreviazuk.

Today’s significantly less confrontational Heap released her third solo album, the Grammy-nominated Ellipse in 2009 and despite her prodigious talent on several instruments, seems content with her current electronic-meets-indie, programming-heavy approach. In the last few years she’s diversified her CV, producing and writing for other artists (including Britney), scoring plays and movies, and remixing dance tracks. At the Esplanade you can expect oldies (we’re holding out for ‘Angry Angel’), a taste of the ever-popular Frou Frou catalogue (‘Breathe’, ‘Let Go’), the inevitable ‘Speeding Cars’ and a liberal dose of new tunes. Alexis Ong