Album Review: IAMEVE – Legacy

Back in April we covered Stardust Apocalypse by IAMEVE, and her new album, Legacy, continues in its emotive electronic vein.

IAMEVE is Los Angeles-based singer, composer, and producer Tiff Randol, whose background has seen her intern under Philip Glass and in recent years has worked on music for shows as diverse as Work in Progress, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Arrow, and The Flash. That training and adaptability, the ability to amplify the emotions and visions of others, and her background with Glass, combine in unexpected ways on Legacy.

It must be said up front that it’s a pop album, a thoughtful one on a grand scale, as Randol/IAMEVE treats the listener to eight pieces of music blessed with strong choruses and lush arrangements and production, along with sweeping melodies that brush against electronic pop, yet are always overflowing with emotional intelligence.

Her screen work may have its overt emotions determined by the words or deeds of others, but Legacy sees IAMEVE as the auteur: that is noticeably present on Atomic, their romanticism and brooding tones triggering the listener to imagine unending vistas and feelings that are roiled and ever-changing. If the aim of the song was to inspire awe at its scope and lyrics, then it undoubtedly works.

Desire continues in that visual theme and also focuses on feelings of uncertainty, the arrangement coming off like a storm at sea, a siren call to tales of the past and the dangers of the present. If love is war, this is the battle cry.

IAMEVE has talked of the album being a journey literally and emotionally, from writing Stardust Apocalypse to a process that led her to Los Angeles, Woodstock, Melbourne, and Berlin. The complexity of that existence and bringing up a child hasn’t impacted the fluid nature of Legacy in terms of its texture.

Partly defined by her vocal similarity to Kate Bush, it draws the listener to view the album as a concept rather than a collection of works. On Light It On Fire, that is especially notable, as vocals, lyrics and arrangement click into place seamlessly, rather like a work for the screen, a story being told. Here, as throughout the album, there is a sense of completeness; everything feels and sounds just right.

Stardust Apocalypse is the most pop-aligned track on the album, but leftfield with it – and also where you can place IAMEVE within a group of contemporaries that includes Bush, but also ionnalee and Austra.

The lyrics of Legacy make you think and feel; the arrangements set your senses on notice to be receptive to their meanings and messages. There is something unquantifiable at the centre of the album. You can’t quite explain it in words, but what you do know is that after listening to it, your soul will feel lighter, transformed and more at rest with itself, aware of the world in its vast scope for wonder, what it has to offer, and what we have to give others in return.

Legacy was released on the 15th of May and can be picked up in digital and vinyl formats on Bandcamp. The album is also streaming on Spotify and YouTube. Catch up with IAMEVE on Instagram for more background on the album and the artist.