Sneaker Pimps founding member
Chris Corner began performing as the dark electropop persona
IAMX in 2004. Named after the
Sneaker Pimps album
Becoming X,
Corner had effectively become "X," which he described as an ever-changing variable. Adopting the trappings of mid-'80s electropop and new wave acts like
New Order,
the Cure, and
Depeche Mode with his pounding, reverb-swathed, synth-washed compositions,
Corner's work as
IAMX represented a notable departure from his work with
the Sneaker Pimps.
His first full-length as
IAMX,
Kiss & Swallow, was released on Recall in 2004; many of the songs on the debut were originally written for a fourth
Sneaker Pimps album that never materialized. His sophomore album,
The Alternative, and a live album from the subsequent tour (
Live in Warsaw) followed in 2008. In 2009,
Corner released
Kingdom of Welcome Addiction, which featured a darker, harder-edged sound, and included an inspired guest spot by
Imogen Heap. A remix album -- the anagram
Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK -- was also released the same year. After releasing a fourth album, the icy, dance-tinged Volatile Times (2011),
IAMX reunited with
Jim Abbiss, who worked with
Sneaker Pimps on
Becoming X, and released
The Unified Field in March 2013. The following year,
Corner's compositions became an integral part of the mood of the award-winning television show How to Get Away with Murder, soundtracking the drama through its first four seasons.
In late 2015, he released the dramatic
Metanoia, a sinister, dubby update of his usual sound. As with his previous works, the album themes featured a dark, vampirish sensibility and dealt with topics like sexual fluidity, androgyny, emotional darkness, and decadence. Two years later, he issued the ambient instrumental
Unfall. In 2018,
Corner recruited
Kat von D for harmonic vocal contributions to his eighth effort,
Alive in New Light. ~ Neil Z. Yeung