From her lo-fi origins on
HK 119 to the sleek pop turns she took with
I Monster on
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control,
Heidi Kilpelaeinen hasn't been afraid of drastically changing her music and truly working with her collaborators. This is especially true of
Imaginature, an exploration of nature and spirituality that features production work by
Christoffer Berg, who also worked with
Karin Dreijer on
Fever Ray's debut album. At times,
Imaginature's Nordic electro-pop recalls both
Fever Ray and
the Knife, as well as
Goldfrapp on the spacy album closer "White Owl" and the rich alto of
Planningtorock on "Snowblind." Yet the album remains distinctive from
Kilpelaeinen's contemporaries as well as her own body of work, combining a lush, operatic feel with a refreshing sense of wonder. All of this is on display on the seven-minute opening track, "Wild Grass," where she muses "Everyone's tired of the news, living satellite lives" over increasingly lavish synths and backing vocals. From there,
Imaginature delves into songs that sound more like landscapes than soundscapes, particularly on "Moss," which boasts gamelan-inspired instrumentation so dense that it's practically verdant. While there are a few poppier moments that recall
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, most notably "Iceberg" and the reggae-tinged "Milky Way," most of
Imaginature is about
Kilpelaeinen stretching creatively. She does this ably on "Adailson," which adds to its mystical vibe with a shaman chanting in Portuguese, and "Whale," which plays like a vision quest that culminates with the realization "Truth is dreaming/Truth is waking up." An album about embracing nature (human and otherwise) might not have mass appeal, but
Imaginature is polarizing in the best way possible: these eclectic, theatrical, yet personal songs aren't for everyone, but they'll resonate with listeners willing to take this trip with
HK 119. ~ Heather Phares
