Hummer: Imogen Heap's "First Train Home"

There was a time in my life when I openly welcomed surprise -- and possible disappointment -- into my life on a regular basis. If I had an extra $20 dollars kicking around in my pocket I'd go to the record store and buy a CD based solely on the cover. I usually got burnt -- the hot pink case covered in termites would turn out to be Samoan death metal -- but once in a while I happened upon someone I ended up loving. Like Imogen Heap. The singer-songwriter started off in the "girl in a piano" mold popular in the late '90s but quickly morphed into an electro wizardess -- first with the help of Guy Sigsworth in a collaboration they dubbed Frou Frou and then on her own -- capturing the blips and bloops escaping her Macbook and turning them into buzzy pop gems.

Imogen's new album, Ellipse, is due out August 25 and the first single, "First Train Home," was just released. The song is about being stuck somewhere -- even with people you love -- but desperately wanting to be somewhere else -- something everyone can relate to. Which, when I come to think of it, is kind of what Imogen's music -- and in some ways all good music -- is all about -- taking the micro and turning it into the macro. Check out the track and then head over to imogenheap.com for more info.

-- NOAH MICHELSON

Previously > Hummer: Patrick Wolf's "Hard Times"