IAMX was founded by Corner in 2002 "X represents the subconscious. It is Art, Sex, Truth. It is radical openness that we achieve in heightened states of creativity. It is the unquantifiable element in all pleasure and all pain. IAMX as a project is an alter ego; a second personality that I can play with and nurture." Additionally, throughout the project's aesthetics, the X in IAMX can be periodically seen placed within brackets (e.g. {X}), like the unknown variable in a mathematical equation. This is a reference to the works of the French philosopher
Gilles Deleuze.
Kiss + Swallow (2004–2006) IAMX's debut album,
Kiss + Swallow, was released in 2004 and consisted of melancholic, dark, 1980s-influenced
electro music with lyrical content often referring to the psychology of sexual fantasy and role play, gender bending, the exploration of solitude, aggression, longing, codependency and mortality. It was written, performed and produced by Corner himself.
Kiss + Swallow was recorded in Corner's home studio in London called The Den. Many of the songs were initially written by Corner for a fourth
Sneaker Pimps album, but while the band was working on the album, it soon became clear that the songs did not suit the direction of Sneaker Pimps. However, the songs remained important to Corner, so he decided to keep working on them as a separate project. The live line-up varied between a revolving cast of close friends including Sue Denim of
Robots in Disguise (whose vocals are also featured on the album), and the actress
Julia Davis of
Nighty Night.
Kiss + Swallow was released in the US on 17 June 2008. The US album included the previously unreleased track "I-Polaroids" and a remix of the title song by
Moonbootica, and used a variant cover for the album artwork. Between tours in 2005, Corner wrote and produced the soundtrack for the film
Les Chevaliers du Ciel and produced the second
Robots in Disguise album,
Get RID!.
The Alternative and Live in Warsaw (2006–2008) IAMX's second album,
The Alternative, had its first physical release in April 2006 in Europe, and its European and UK digital release October 2007. In November 2007, it was released physically in the UK and Ireland; then in May 2008, it was released on
Metropolis Records in the US. The European and US versions had variant covers, with the US version featuring black tape over the face on the cover, rather than the original yellow tape. European and US versions also featured alternate versions of several tracks such as a hidden instrumental string version of "
Spit It Out", which was arranged and recorded by Audrey Morse, added production, and new backing vocals from Janine Gezang, who had recently joined the live line-up as backing vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist. Janine Gezang's addition to the live lineup was announced in the summer of 2006, alongside the news that Dean Rosenzweig would be on guitars and bass, and Tom Marsh on drums. However, Corner began playing shows in support of
The Alternative in April 2006, the same month of its European release, playing various festivals across Europe before embarking on a full-fledged Europe and US tour with the live lineup mentioned above in tow. A limited-edition live album,
Live in Warsaw, was released on 14 November 2008 on IAMX's own label, 61seconds. The performance was recorded in front of a live audience for the
Polskie Radio Program III and later mixed by Corner in Berlin at IAMX2 studios. At the time, the album was exclusively available on the band's online shop, Boutique IAMX and was not made available for many years after it initially sold out. However, it has since been made available again for digital download and streaming via Corner's new label
UNFALL Productions.
Kingdom of Welcome Addiction and Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK (2009–2010) The third IAMX album,
Kingdom of Welcome Addiction, was released on 19 May 2009. The album's release was preceded by the single "Think of England", which was made available for free download on 7 November 2008. This album had a heavier sound than the previous two albums, and utilized Gezang's soprano harmonization throughout. It also featured guest vocals by
Imogen Heap on the track "My Secret Friend" with Corner directing the corresponding music video. In early 2010, it was announced that Janine Gezang would remain on keyboards/synths, vocals and bass; while Rosenzweig and Marsh would be replaced by Alberto Álvarez on guitars, vocals, drums and bass, and Jon Harper on drums. However, before the second half of the tour, in August 2010, Harper was replaced by MAX, a drum machine which was programmed and triggered by Corner. When asked in an interview, "Where and what is the Kingdom of Welcome Addiction for IAMX?" Corner responded, "In a cold suburb of my sensual and beloved Berlin. In the womb of IAMX. A place where the aches and pains of banality can be relieved. Vices, insecurities, stupidities cured. A little bit like Disney world but with lipstick, cynicism and wit." A remixed and reworked version of the album entitled
Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK was released on 19 March 2010. The release featured reworks done by Corner himself under the alias of UNFALL, as well as remixes and covers by other artists, including
Alec Empire,
Terence Fixmer,
Combichrist,
Aesthetic Perfection and more. The artists featured on the album were all selected and asked to contribute by IAMX. The title of the remixed album is an anagram of the original album's title
Kingdom of Welcome Addiction.
Volatile Times and The Unified Field (2011–2014) In April 2010, Corner teased that he was working on his fourth studio album, which he referred to as
IAMX4. On 19 October 2010, it was announced that
IAMX4 was now identified as
Volatile Times. In early March 2011, the week before the album's release, the track "Fire and Whispers" was made available for free download on the IAMX website. The album was then released in Europe on 18 March 2011 where it peaked at #68 in the German
Media Control Charts. Corner has repeatedly stated that creating
Volatile Times was difficult emotionally. He described the album as his most self-indulgent and the peak of his inner struggle with working alone. IAMX went on two European tours throughout 2011: the 'Fire And Whispers Tour' in the first half of the year and the 'Into Asylum Tour' in the second half. Caroline Weber joined the live line-up on drums in 2011, alongside Álvarez on guitars, backing vocals, drums and bass, and Gezang on keyboards/synths, backing vocals and bass. On 1 February 2012, it was announced on IAMX's social media that work had officially begun on the fifth studio album, which had the then working title of
IAMX5. On 13 May 2012, Corner announced that there would be a
vlog posted on the official IAMX YouTube channel every two weeks, which would allow fans to view the recording process of the new album. In the third vlog, Corner revealed that IAMX5 was to be co-produced by
Jim Abbiss. Abbiss had formerly worked alongside Corner to co-produce Sneaker Pimps' debut album,
Becoming X, and had gone on to produce albums for artists such as
Adele and
Arctic Monkeys. On 6 July 2012, via his online blog, Corner revealed the name of a track, "Come Home", from the forthcoming album. On 1 October 2012, a fundraising project was launched via the
PledgeMusic website, which would allow fans to bid on items such as old tour set lists, drumsticks, signed CDs, and to pre-order the new album with the additional goal of funding a "
Making Of" documentary for the album. Essentially, the more that was pledged, the more IAMX would be able to do, and the more cities they would be able to reach on the accompanying tour. The goal of this fundraiser reached its 100% target in one hour, and eventually reached 817% of the set target. On 19 October 2012, it was announced that the album would officially be named
The Unified Field and would be preceded by the title track as the first single alongside the track "Quiet The Mind". Both songs were released on 3 December 2012. The album was released on 20 March 2013 for fans who pledged on the PledgeMusic project, and 22 March 2013 to the general public. Following the album's release, IAMX began the 'Animal Impulses Tour', adding new live members Richard Ankers on drums and Sammi Doll on keyboards and backing vocals. Janine Gezang also returned on keyboards/synths, vocals and bass. The 'Animal Impulses Tour' began in Europe and ended in North America. This was the first tour which visited the US after a four-year gap, a feat only made possible through the PledgeMusic campaign. A second tour in support of the album was announced, but on 16 August 2013, the IAMX management team posted a statement regarding the rescheduling of the 2013 Fall 'Screams Tour' until 2014, as Corner had been diagnosed with chronic primary insomnia and was seeking treatment. Due to ongoing health complications, the 'Screams Tour' was eventually cancelled.The project went dark, with Corner later stating, "In the worst period, I didn't go online; I didn't connect. I became a recluse. [...] I had stopped creating music because I felt like music was my enemy and that it was hurting me psychologically and emotionally: it was too much to deal with." He found solace through the compassion of his fans after posting 'Insomnia Schizophonica'; On 31 May 2014, Corner played a live online acoustic set of songs from
Kiss + Swallow which was broadcast worldwide. He hinted at a new album during a Q&A session on 17 August 2014, after performing another online acoustic set of songs, this time from
The Alternative.
Metanoia and Everything Is Burning (2014–2016) On 17 December 2014, a countdown was started on IAMX's social media accounts. The countdown ended three days later, revealing the official announcement of a new
PledgeMusic campaign for the next fan-funded album, said to be released in early fall of 2015. On 11 June 2015, the album title was announced as
Metanoia. The tracks "Insomnia" and "Happiness" were included in the second season of the TV series
How to Get Away with Murder, while the songs "Surrender" and "Look Outside" were featured in the third season. In an interview talking about the album, Corner confirmed that coming out of a long period of insomnia and depression had impacted the album heavily. He described it as his least complicated and most honest work to date. In October 2015, IAMX began the 'Metanoia Tour', which started in the US, before continuing through Canada and Europe. On 2 December 2016, the album addendum
Everything Is Burning was released, serving as a companion piece to
Metanoia with seven previously unreleased tracks and nine remixes of
Metanoia songs. Of the songs on
Everything Is Burning, Corner said, "They were half written for
Metanoia, there was a surplus of material that didn’t make it to the album. It happens with every album that I do, where there are about 5-7 songs that don’t make it. However, these tracks I felt so connected to that I didn’t want to drag them into another era, they had too much of a connection to
Metanoia that they had to remain connected and put the album to rest for me. This EP was in many ways me celebrating my strength and victory over that time period." As with
Dogmatic Infidel Comedown OK, IAMX handpicked the artists for the remixes on
Everything Is Burning. Contributors included previous collaborator
Aesthetic Perfection, friend and colleague
Gary Numan, and more. In September 2016, the North American 'Everything Is Burning' tour began. The tour again spanned the US, Mexico, and Canada, before moving across the Atlantic in October to finish the tour in Europe.
Unfall and Alive In New Light (2017–2018) On 22 September 2017, IAMX's first experimental album
Unfall (the German word for 'accident') was released. For this album, Corner expanded his sonic palette and turned his past remix alias into the title of this instrumental and abstract album, which showcased him "...avoiding pop radio formats and utilizing a heavy amount of modular synthesizers." Corner referred to the album as “a way of decluttering my wired mind.” Meanwhile, Corner continued work on his next studio album. He teased the album online before the release of "Mile Deep Hollow". This was the first single from what would later be announced as IAMX's eighth album
Alive In New Light. This track was also featured before its release in the fourth season of
How To Get Away With Murder, during the mid-season finale. It was then officially released on 14 December 2018 alongside its music video. The title track "Alive in New Light" premiered similarly in
How To Get Away With Murder, being featured in the next episode after the mid-season finale. This track was then released with the album on 2 February 2018. The second single, "Stardust", featuring tattoo artist
Kat Von D, was released on 5 March 2018 alongside another music video. Corner said that "this album is about connecting, and it’s a pain in the ass to do it through an album. Each time I do this, I feel exhausted but it’s an impulse I can’t stop. If you write your pain out, there’s a venting. Happiness is a skill. I’m happiest activating skills that keep you balanced.” IAMX and his live band toured on the
Alive In New Light album extensively within North America and Europe, with special guest appearances at certain shows from
Kat Von D, whose vocals featured on the album, and
Liam Howe on synths. Howe and Corner's performance together on stage in Los Angeles at
The Belasco Theater on 25 May 2018 was their first in eighteen years, since Sneaker Pimps' hiatus in 2002.
Echo Echo (2019–2020) In 2019, Corner announced to his Patreon that he was working on an acoustic rework album, which would feature fan favorites from the IAMX back catalogue re-imagined for the acoustic guitar. The first single and music video from the album was released 6 March 2020 for the song "Surrender", with "Kiss And Swallow" released without a video alongside the main single. An extensive tour was planned for both North America and Europe, with specific venues booked that would exemplify the looping pedal effects Corner planned to use in place of touring with a full band. However, both tours had to be cancelled due to the worldwide outbreak of
COVID-19. Determined to continue connecting with his fans, and remain a healthy outlet during a time of
mental anguish and strife, Corner and his longtime collaborator, Janine Gezang, partnered up to start live-streaming the IAMX Mental Health Gatherings they had co-created and hosted during the "Mile Deep Hollow" Tour.
Machinate and Mile Deep Hollow Tour Live (2021–2022) Fault Lines¹ (2023) In 2023, after five years of musical endeavors involving acoustic re-imaginings, modular experimentation, and working on
Squaring the Circle, the first Sneaker Pimps album in 19 years, Corner returned to the first lyrically-driven IAMX album since 2018's
Alive In New Light. Similar to
Machinate, the album had a dark, modular style. Corner said on the album's influences: “These songs have been parasites in my brain for years. They were written before my experiments with modular tech, but they benefit from the addition of this production. In a sense this is a classic IAMX album from a songwriting point of view, but the sounds are a touch more fractured and fucked thanks to the modular beast now a part of my life.” The first single from the album, 'The X ID' was released with an accompanying psychedelic music video on 21 April 2023. With the album slated to release 12 May 2023. A Spring and Fall tour were announced earlier in the year, with the first show starting in San Diego on 27 May 2023.
2024 — 2025 On 25th September 2025, Janine Gezang announced her departure from IAMX. == Film, TV, and video game features ==