DETAIL ORIENTATION
Nov 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Kylee Swenson
The chemical experiment of Frou Frou — one part producer Guy Sigsworth (Björk, Madonna, Seal) and one part solo artist Imogen Heap (I Megaphone [Almo Sounds, 1998]) — almost resulted in a studio lab explosion. As Sigsworth rose from the position of producer to co-artist and Heap rose from artist to co-producer, tension mounted. “We both sat down in front of the computer, and it was like, ‘Who takes control?’” says Heap. “We figured out quite early on that we needed someone to do our dirty work for us.”
“Sometimes, I'd say, ‘My favorite thing about this song is x,’” says Sigsworth. “And Imogen would say, ‘I love everything about this song except x.’ I used to sit on the left of Gili [Engineer Gili Wiseburgh acted as mediator], and she sat on the right of him, and he'd do this pan of all the sounds I liked to the left and all of the sounds she liked to the right. We used to joke that at the end, we'd have a CD where I'd pull the right speaker out of my hi-fi, and I would have the album I wanted, and she'd pull the left speaker out and have the album she wanted.” Instead, the two accepted the challenge of their differing opinions and made an album they could agree on.
The result is Details (MCA, 2002), a Digidesign Pro Tools — heavy, Brian Eno-ish experiment of sounds — Eno appears on “Hear Me Out” — but with a huge emphasis on pop song structure. With wine-glass sounds making contagious hooks and Heap's breathy but big voice, Björk would be proud. “Sonically, we were both capable of going much further on this record than we did,” says Sigsworth. “But rather than having someone say the first time they heard a song, ‘God, who programmed the drums?’ we wanted them to actually fall in love with the song first. You don't hear one sound you've ever heard on the planet Earth before on Aphex Twin and Autechre albums, and it's just genius programming. They'll put a snare drum through 17 synthesizers and 15 computers. But those people don't write songs. Our idea is to write the song and then start reaching for the bag of tricks.”
Other than “the main star of the show, Pro Tools,” as Sigsworth notes, various other items play important parts, including a Clavia Nord Electro and Nord Lead; E-mu Proteus modules; Rhodes and Wurlitzer pianos; Avalon and Focusrite preamps; Neumann mics; and various guitars, basses, drum sources and “odd toys.” But the smaller-than-a-Gameboy Yamaha QY20 is Sigsworth's favorite. While Sigsworth was in Björk's band, co-member Talvin Singh picked one up at a shop in Holland. “He brought it on the bus, and when we got to the next stop, everyone else on the bus went off and bought one: Björk, me, everyone,” says Sigsworth. “What I love about the QY20 is it's a really simple sequencer and a small number of sounds. It's just enough to get you creative and not enough to get you lost. Maybe you've got five bass drums, and if you don't like any of those five, well, fuck off. You're not getting another one!”
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