Premiere: .imp shares new track ‘Lifedreamer’

London-based alt-pop artist .imp returns today with Lifedreamer, available now on all streaming/download platforms. The dreamy, euphoric new song follows 2017’s debut Headscrambled EP which was championed by 6Music’s Tom Robinson and acclaimed by XS Noize upon release.

“The first section of the song was written while I was whacked out on morphine and recovering from surgery, so it has quite a dreamy feel,” explains James Hargreaves, AKA .imp. “I’m a big believer in the interpretation of a lyric being down to the listener so I don’t want to get too explicit in its meaning – but in essence it’s about keeping positive in adversity while you’re going through a difficult patch. When the trumpets kick in and the bigger musical section hits, that’s about being where you want to be, doing just what you want to do – you’ve fought your battles and your demons and you’re ready for the joy and celebration that comes with that. For me that’s being in the mountains – clean air, stunning scenery and so far removed from the grime of the city that is my day to day living. It was the only place I wanted to be when I was being fixed up and looked after by these amazing people in the NHS.”

Led by the songwriting and musical vision of Hargreaves, .imp began as a recording project born out of a stubborn passion for the love of music, drawing commentary from everything and anything – snatched conversations, TV, political travesty, loss or the confusion of existing in an information-soaked world. James’ musical influences are a melting pot – from Vince Clarke’s analogue synths to the lush complexity of Radiohead, with the idiosyncratic takes on pop of The Strokes and The Streets also key reference points.

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Melissa Svensen

Melissa Svensen

Melissa, 22. Editor. Student, music journalist, probably talking about Blur or Bowie