Deadmau5 & Imogen Heap Collaboration “Telemiscommunications” Premieres on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 Show

Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 premiered the much anticipated track “Telemiscommunications” off Deadmau5‘s record >Album Title Goes Here<. The song has been circulating amongst the EDM community and elsewhere because of its tentative feature with Imogen Heap. The two tweeted what seems like decades ago about the song and has officially come to fruition.

As expected, it’s the vocal feature of talent Imogen Heap that allocates the closing track off of the upcoming release with it’s stunning debonair. Her signature ad-libs push their way through already delicately produced instrumentation as a way to add a silky outline of vocal vulnerability and are reverberated and automated for an extra silky sense of space.

Lyrically, a one-sided cell phone conversation with a lover is heard from the streets of what is presumably a busy area. “Hey, babe, how’s your day been? No, you first. Oh, what? The delay’s quite bad. Yeah, sorry. Where are you? I can’t really hear you, a taxi distracted,” she begins before lashing up a quick bit about being tired, having to go, and asking if she could call back. The chorus emits lethargic melancholy within the situation. “This is just so unlike us,” she says. “Cut back to horizontal-isms. If we could win just one small touch..contact vs telemiscomunications.”

It’d be impractical to not relate “Miscommunications” to the days where Imogen was one half of the duo Frou Frou. The release contains an Electronic background the group lavished in, while harboring solemn ownership of sounds which could sit quite nicely beside the bulk of introspective songs that came from the Details album sessions.

In addition to the melodic Heap offerings, we have the classic piano samples Deadmau5 has come to admire in his compositions. They’re crisp, clean chords that are compressed into the mix as a way to delegate beautiful direction into which the track flourishes and panned in a conservative way of lower notes being presented more into the left channel, and higher octaves placed more in the right portion of the stereo image. Aside being reversed at the chorus, they’re uninvolved in structural movement, but demanding in meaning and deliver an overall expressive impact of rainy day, album closing euphoria.

Otherwise? It’s an atmospheric vision of electronic bips and samples that give way to to simplified, rhythmic backdrop. Various synthesized pads mold their way into the foreground of the song and allow for something expected to lash out toward a four-to-the-floor, progressive world to remain

“Did I tell you I loved you today? Kiss kiss..” let’s out Imogen as the vocal layers build up, circling around the mix through both channels until it ceases with a long sustain on a last piano note, background vocals remaining at whole note, and the sampled percussion leading the track outward, to it’s end.

Disconnected while connected. It’s the perfect 21st century, technological love song that both Joel Zimmerman and Imogen Heap can relate to. Amongst their online connections with their fans through UStream and Twitter interactions, it’s a management of life outside of the technological advancements, while remaining in tact with them. A catch 22, an outlet that can enhance or destroy a social setting with one another. Telecommunications, while wonderful, can easily become frustrating, frigid, and a confusing way of connecting.

Listen to “Telemiscommunications” via BBC Radio 1 by clicking here and navigating to 56 minutes & 30 seconds. We’ve included an instrumental version of the song below, as a YouTube video uploaded to the official Deadmau5 account.