Frou Frou

A collaboration between vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Imogen Heap and producer/songwriter/musician Guy Sigsworth, Frou Frou manufacture an eccentric brand of vocal-driven, electronic pop in the territory of frequent Sigsworth collaborator Björk. They released their only full album, Details, in 2002. The band's cover of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" was recorded for use in the 2004 blockbuster Shrek 2 shortly before they went on hiatus. After eventually reuniting as Frou Frou for a Heap tour in 2019, they issued Off Cuts, an EP of unreleased demos, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Details in 2022. The two musicians met in 1996, when a demo from a then-teenaged Heap made its way to Sigsworth, and he decided to meet with her. She went on to sing backup for his band Acacia, and Sigsworth co-wrote and produced "Getting Scared" for Heap's 1998 debut album, iMEGAPHONE. In the meantime, Sigsworth collaborated with the likes of Björk and Madonna. Frou Frou began operating as a duo in earnest in 2001, when Sigsworth had a solo album in progress for which he planned to invite various guests, including rappers and poets as well as Heap specifically. After recording a song with her, he scrapped the guest list idea to work exclusively with the singer. Combining experimental and adult pop with doses of trip hop and rock, Frou Frou's debut album, Details, was completed for release on MCA Records in the U.S. and Island Records in the U.K. and Europe in June 2002. In the States, the album produced two minor dance hits in "Breathe In" and "Must Be Dreamin," both of which landed in the Top 30 of Billboard's Dance Club Songs chart. In the U.K., "Breathe In" cracked the Top 50. The partnership made a fan of music supervisor Chris Douridas, who asked the duo to cover Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" for the soundtrack to Shrek 2 in 2004. That year, their song "Let Go" won new fans when Zach Braff included it on the popular soundtrack to his film Garden State. Nevertheless, Frou Frou went their separate ways, with Heap returning to her solo career and Sigsworth continuing to work behind the scenes with such marquee acts as Britney Spears, Josh Groban, and Alanis Morissette. Frou Frou briefly reunited in April 2019 for the North American leg of Imogen Heap's Mycelia World Tour. That month, the duo released "Guitar Song," which later reappeared on an EP of previously unreleased demos, Off Cuts, on Megaphonic Records in June 2022, marking the 20th anniversary of Details. A year later, the EP landed in the Top 20 of Billboard Heatseekers chart, reaching number 19. ~ Marcy Donelson & Vincent Jeffries, Rovi