It's A Good Thing Ingrid Michaelson Said It Doesn't Have To Make Sense!

The Good: Voice, Moments of musical accompaniment
The Bad: SHORT, Unsettling album arrangement, Less clever lyrics than prior albums
The Basics: It Doesn't Have To Make Sense sounds more like Ingrid Michaelson is chasing the next ad campaign, as opposed to making a cool, cohesive, album!


Right before the winter holidays, my wife and I were out at a big store looking for gifts for one another, when she approached me gleefully with It Doesn't Have To Make Sense in her hand. I like the works of Ingrid Michaelson and she is one of the few female musical artists my wife actually enjoys. At that point, my wife was pretty desperate to find gifts for me (there are very few things I want anymore; the few things I truly do covet are exceptionally expensive and rare - or not for sale!), so I suspended my usual "three singles before I'll buy an album" rule and smiled and said, "yes please," to my wife. She bought the c.d. on the spot, but it took until today for us to actually get around to opening and listening to It Doesn't Have To Make Sense.

We ended up split on It Doesn't Have To Make Sense; I did not enjoy it, my wife did. When we completed our first listen to the album, my wife enthusiastically said "I liked it!" I was more neutral to it and after multiple listens to the album, I find I enjoyed a few of the tracks more as tracks, but still found the album to be comparatively poorly assembled. My wife, on the other hand, was singing along to even the tracks she admitted she did not like, though she did say that after multiple listens to the album, it was sadder than most music she likes to have on.

It Doesn't Have To Make Sense is a very short Ingrid Michaelson album. With only ten songs, adding up to only 35:45, It Doesn't Have To Make Sense is an odd collection of new songs all of which were cowritten by Michaelson (only two were written by the artist solo). Michaelson provides all of the lead vocals on It Doesn't Have To Make Sense and she plays piano on the songs. Ingrid Michaelson is also credited as a coproducer on It Doesn't Have To Make Sense.

There are few albums that leave me truly unsettled the way It Doesn't Have To Make Sense did. It Doesn't Have To Make Sense is an odd mix of up-tempo, danceable songs, heavily-produced anthems and stark, sad, ballads. The album is listenable, but it lacks a cohesiveness that many of Michaelson's other albums possess. As well, it is unfortunately derivative of other Ingrid Michaelson works. That element begins right away on It Doesn't Have To Make Sense. I am a big fan of Michaelson's song "Afterlife" on her prior album, Lights Out (reviewed here!); it is one of the few songs I ever crank up when I am alone listening to music. So, as I lay listening to my first listen of It Doesn't Have To Make Sense and the first track "Light Me Up" included Michaelson repeating the words "we are" the exact same way as she sang the words "we all" on "Afterlife," I actually cringed.

It Doesn't Have To Make Sense is beleaguered by writing that is unfortunately packed with cliches. Michaelson seems to have given up on trying to find a new way to express her thoughts on "Whole Lot Of Heart." Despite remaining catchy with the backing vocals, it is hard to get enthusiastic about the lines "You said there's something about the moon / It rose too soon / And we're doing what we should / You said it's life that moves too much / We're losing touch / But I'm not losing you / There's a whole lot of heart in me / I feel it under my skin" ("Whole Lot Of Heart").

On It Doesn't Have To Make Sense, Ingrid Michaelson sounds like she is chasing a single more than making an album that is intended to hold together as a solid musical work. "Miss America," for example, sounds very much like Michaelson trying to write a jingle for an alternate beauty company ad. Michaelson broke out when The Gap used "The Way I Am" and "Miss America" has so many musical moments that could be reduced for twenty second clips for an ad campaign for beauty products catering to non-Hollywood ideals of beauty, though my wife says it's a great anthem for getting ready for girl's night out!

In a similar way, "Drink You Gone" sounds like exactly the type of song one might use near the end of a romantic comedy. The song is the exact sound and lyrics some director will eventually use for the montage scene in a romance film where the protagonist realizes that they would rather be in the relationship they have abandoned than be alone. Sigh.

It Doesn't Have To Make Sense is plagued by odd transitions and an unfortunate track order. After the sad and somber "Drink You Gone," which is not a bad song musing about the sadness of a failed relationship, It Doesn't Have To Make Sense abruptly goes hard pop with "Hell No!" The celebration of tossing a bad relationship is a weird choice to follow a song that laments a lost relationship. As well, there is something infantile about the way "Still The One" - which is a very traditional pop song that sounds fun and wonderful - precedes "Celebrate," which is explicitly a throwback song intended to harken back to pop songs of the 1990s.

What helps sell It Doesn't Have To Make Sense are the vocals of Ingrid Michealson. Michaelson has a beautiful voice and when she goes into the soprano range on "Another Life," she does so with a lilting quality that is distinctive and wonderful. Michaelson is a wonderful singer and while some of the tracks have a more anthemic sound that is produced to sublimate her voice, most of her vocals are are fresh and clear.

But even Michaelson's voice is not enough to truly land the short, simplistic writing of songs that might have worked better on three different concept albums. It Doesn't Have To Make Sense is more average than exceptional.

The superlative track is "I Remember Her," the low point is "Celebrate."

For other works by Ingrid Michaelson, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Girls And Boys
Be OK
Everybody
Human Again

4/10

For other album and singles reviews, please check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Ingrid Michaelson Goes Collaborative On Lights Out!

The Good: Decent lyrics, Diverse sound, Moments of voice
The Bad: I want more! (Duration)
The Basics: Ingrid Michaelson's latest, Lights Out showcases the artist’s musical range and willingness to share the stage with other performers on what might well be her best album yet!


Today is my 5 1/4 year anniversary with my wife and when I returned from work this morning, she had gifts for me. I had gifts for her, too, but I had forgotten what it was I had packaged up for her. Because she recently spent days digitizing my c.d. collection and putting it on my old iPod Touch (reviewed here!), one of my wife’s two gifts to me was a bit predictable, but not at all unwelcome. It was the c.d. of Lights Out, Ingrid Michaelson’s latest album. When she purchased this gift for me, my wife got the digital copy of Lights Out and put it on my restocked iPod, so I’ve been listening to it quite a lot lately. There is something ironic about hearing “Girls And Boys” – the first single from Lights Out - coming over the speakers at work as I listen to my iPod there . . . with the express purpose of avoiding the largely nauseating blend of music my workplace has for my nightly toils.

So, despite the fact that today is the first day I have had the physical c.d., I have been listening to Lights Out in pretty heavy rotation the last two weeks. Moreover, I have been listening to Lights Out in quick succession to other Ingrid Michaelson albums and works by other musical artists who have been favorites of mine – most notably Heather Nova and Dar Williams. With Lights Out, Ingrid Michaelson firmly establishes herself as one of my favorites whose complete library I will continue to collect, albums unheard. That is a rare thing for me; I usually only buy new music after three singles from the album sway me! But by Lights Out, the trajectory of Michaelson’s talent arc has become clear and compelling enough for her to have earned the faith of her listeners. On Lights Out, Ingrid Michaelson presents her most musically-rich album to date . . . without sacrificing her natural vocal talents or her creative writing talents.

Either I have grown in my tastes or Ingrid Michaelson does something seriously right with the way she collaborates with other musical artists on Lights Out. I recall being oddly upset when I heard Dar Williams performing “Better Things” on End Of The Summer (reviewed here!) with a guest male vocalist (having heard live versions with just Williams and thinking that was sufficient); I had a strange indignant thought whenever I heard the album version, like “Why does she feel she needs this guy on the song with her?!” I suppose if I still held such a narrow view out of what I expect from my musical artists, I would hate Lights Out. On Lights Out, Ingrid Michaelson collaborates with at least five other artists, most notably Trent Dabbs, who co-wrote six of the fourteen songs on Lights Out. The thing is, despite having more “help” with the writing and performing on Lights Out, the album still has the tone and quality one expects from Ingrid Michaelson. I almost wrote “Lights Out still sounds like an Ingrid Michaelson album,” but that is not true at all. On Lights Out, Michaelson explodes her sound by exploring a much richer sound than her traditional “one woman and a piano” or “one woman and a guitar” sound that defined many of her earlier works.

At 54:01, the biggest detractions to Lights Out are that it is short and frontloaded (after “One Night Town” – track 8 – the album starts sounding like a much more traditional Ingrid Michaelson album). It is interesting, though, that for the last six songs, the most musically bold track, “Stick,” has lyrics that are much more consistent with Michaelson’s prior emotional tenor than the others; it is like Michaelson is insistent on experimenting on Lights Out, while remaining committed to some emotional truth she possesses. Either way, Lights Out is a wonderful blend of audacious new sounds from Ingrid Michaelson and a sense of familiarity from the artist. For such a young artist, Ingrid Michaelson’s musically experimental nature is remarkably successful on Lights Out.

And Lights Out is largely the musical vision of Ingrid Michaelson. Michaelson may have only wrote four of the songs on her own (usually she writes all of her own works, so this is not a defect of talent, but rather a creative direction the artist has chosen to go in – in contrast to someone like, for example, Britney Spears, who took several albums to get to the point where she wrote as much material on her own), but she co-wrote the other ten songs, usually with Trent Dabbs. Michaelson provides all of the primary vocals and plays piano or omnichord on the songs. She is also credited with additional production for the album, though there are several producers for the album. Regardless, Lights Out seems very much to be the creative work of Ingrid Michaelson, as opposed to an album mashed together from various hitmaker producers.

On Lights Out, Michaelson has a very diverse musical sound . . . within the bounds of pop-rock. There is the slow, haunting ballad “Wonderful Unknown” which is mirrored by the final track “Everyone Is Gonna Love Me Now.” Michaelson’s familiar poppy, upbeat-sounding songs are represented on Lights Out like “Girls Chase Boys,” “One Night Town,” and “Warpath” (which is poppy, but not peppy). As if determined not to throw listeners from her established “one woman and a piano” sound, Ingrid Michaelson starts the album off with “Home,” which is familiar save that it amps up the volume and musical depth.

Vocally, Ingrid Michaelson showcases her range extraordinarily well on Lights Out. While Michaelson usually remains in her alto range, on songs like “Wonderful Unknown” and “Over You,” she goes into the soprano range. Outside of some production elements numbing her articulation for a few lines on a couple of songs, almost every line on Lights Out may be clearly heard by Michaelson and her guest vocalists (all of her guest vocalists make their words perfectly comprehensible).

Thematically, Lights Out is a diverse album. Songs from Ingrid Michaelson tend to be focused on interpersonal relationships and some of them are particularly brilliant. Indeed, Michaelson has a rare talent for exploring concepts uncommon in modern pop music. The longing one has to be memorable, for example, is articulated on “Stick.” When Michaelson sings “Long long time ago / You and I put on a show / Then we ran it in the ground / You said it's not enough / Don't want a broken love / You were nowhere to be found / Even after something's gotta hold on / Did any of me stick at all? . . . There's a part of you that stays with me / Someone else gets to know / Did any of me stick at all?” (“Stick”), anyone who has had a failed relationship where they grew from the experience can relate to the lines!

Michaelson is an impressive poet. With lines like “Oh, let me wear your overcoat, my bones are super chill and all the ponies have gone home / Oh, walking through Manhattan with the ache from last night’s smile still smarting up from my toes / Here we go, dancing on our own, inside this house that we have never known, / Here we go, going in alone into the dark and wonderful unknown, let us go, let us go / Oh, we make bread on Sundays and the little ones are climbing up the walls, up the walls / Oh, nothing lasts forever but the sound of love astounds me every time that it calls” (“Wonderful Unknown”), Ingrid Michaelson continues her trend as one of America’s premier singer-songwriters.

Lights Out does not have any musical story-songs, which defined Michaelson’s early career (and illustrated her roots in folk music), but the album still illustrates the raw talent of Ingrid Michaelson while displaying some real growth in her abilities. This is one of the best albums of 2014 and the current peak for the talented Ingrid Michaelson.

The best song is “Wonderful Unknown,” the weak link is “Ready To Lose,” which is not a bad song at all.

For other works by Ingrid Michaelson, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Girls And Boys
Be OK
Everybody
Human Again

8/10

Check out how this album stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Music Review Index Page where the albums and singles are organized from best to worst!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Don't Be Blind, Find The Heart You Gave To Ingrid Michaelson's Girls And Boys!

The Good: Decent lyrics, Diverse sound, Moments of voice
The Bad: Repetitive, Shorter than I'd like, Moments the voice does not live up
The Basics: Another promising outing from a young voice that is clear and articulate is Ingrid Michaelson's Girls And Boys which establishes her as a rising star in the pop-folk world!


I don't - honestly - usually get my musical selections from commercials from The Gap. I swear. So, during the winter months, when one of the songs from a commercial for sweaters kept ringing in my ears, I actually decided to look it up. It turns out, that song on The Gap commercials with its trademark like "If you are chilly, here take my sweater. . ." is from "The Way I Am." That was the first single by Ingrid Michaelson, from her sophomore album Girls And Boys.

Yeah, I had a regular female empowerment shopping day at Barnes and Noble the day I finally found out who sang that song. After a lengthy discussion with the music department at the store, I ended up picking up the deluxe edition of Annie Lennox's Songs Of Mass Destruction, the deluxe edition of Sara Bareillies's Little Voice (reviewed here!) and Girls And Boys. I had been holding out for a long time before listening to this album, mostly because I wanted to share the first listen with a good friend of mine. That no longer being an option, I have had this album in high rotation the past three days. When I picked it up, the folks at Barnes And Noble said they had gotten sick of the Sara Bareilles album after the high rotation it was on in the store, but even though Michaelson's album had had about as much exposure in their department, they still thrilled to it each time it came on. So far, I tend to agree with that; I've unloaded my Bareilles and I'm still intrigued by Girls And Boys enough to know I'm keeping it around.

With only twelve tracks clocking in at 45:42, Girls And Boys does still seem to be very much the musical vision of Ingrid Michaelson. In addition to writing all of the songs, she plays piano and guitar as well as provide the primary vocals for each track. As well - one of the things I like to see in such a young artist - she is one of the album's co-producers, so it's pretty clear she maintained quite a bit of creative control over this outing.

And it's a worthy one. In fact, this is one of the more original albums I have heard in quite some time coming from such a young artist. Outside the opening track, "Die Alone," which comes on strong with guitar riffs and vocals easily reminiscent of the covered version of song and video "Build Me Up Buttercup" from the DVD Mallrats (reviewed here!).

Beyond that, Michaelson has a very pure and original sound, clearly establishing herself as a bold, new singer-songwriter. She has a strength that she sings about and sings with that is pretty impressive from one so young. She opens "Overboard," for example, with the defiant and self-actualized lines, "I could write my name by the age of three / and I don't need anyone to cut my meat for me. / I'm a big girl now, see my big girl shoes. / It'll take more than just a breeze to make me / Fall over, fall over, fall overboard, overboard. / Fall overboard just so you can catch me." It's wonderful because she bears a confidence that transcends the lyrics, which do become more romantic, though no less strong.

But Michaelson also has a strong sense of both the vulnerable and essentially human on songs like "Breakable." There, she is wrenching exploring the body and the emotional landscape with lines like, "Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts? / Just a cage of rib bones and other various parts. / So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess, / And to stop the muscle that makes us confess. / And we are so fragile, / And our cracking bones make noise, / And we are just, / Breakable, breakable, breakable girls and boys" ("Breakable"). The juxtaposition of the physical heart and the emotional fragility of which she sings works perfectly to establish a song that is memorable and distinct.

Despite the easy hooks of "The Way I Am," which is a beautiful little love song that deserves to be charting much better than it is (honestly, who couldn't love a song about being accepted for who one is?!), the complexity of "Glass" is what keeps me coming back to Girls And Boys. It's a powerfully-sung song with an opening that recounts a romance, before turning into something truly wrenching. I swear, everytime Michaelson sings, "And now we pass and just like glass / I see through you, you see through me like I'm not there. / You could make my head swerve. / Used to know my every curve. / And now we meet on a street, / And I am blind. I can not find the heart I gave to you" ("Glass"), I get a chill down my spine. She has the ability to evoke powerful imagery with very simple comparisons.

In fact, the only issue I have with any of the lyrics is that they are occasionally repetitive. Michaelson fills up many of the songs with a lot of repetition of key lines. Chief among these is "December Baby," which comes up late on the album and repeats its main line a lot. A lot.

Those concerned that this might be just chick music, I don't know what to say. Anyone who likes a strong feminine voice will find something to love on Girls And Boys. Michaelson sings clearly going effortlessly from alto all the way to some soprano notes on tracks like "Corner Of Your Heart." She has a breezy voice which makes "The Way I Am" so infectious and she can truly belt it out, as she does on the album's opener, "Die Alone."

Ingrid Michaelson does not seem to be an artist who is unwilling to take musical chances. Indeed, very few of the songs have evidence of vocal production. Instead, much of the album sounds like a very true and natural woman's voice and it works perfectly to accent Michaelson's message. It's a rare artist that can make everything she sings come out perfectly articulated, but Michaelson does that, even on "Masochist." She gets a little singsongy on "December Baby," but it works well enough.

Where Michaelson keeps the ear intrigued is in the music. Girls And Boys is not easy to classify because it has both strong guitar ("Die Alone") and strong piano-driven track (like "Overboard"). She alternates between the thrashing and the sublime, pairing mellow, almost-folk tracks like "The Way I Am" with more empowerment anthems like "Overboard." She is adept with the guitar, strumming away with "Highway" and seems equally comfortable with the piano on the tracks that use it.

Actually, my only wish after hearing Girls And Boys is to see Michaelson in concert. She seems like an artist who would do exceptionally well on a stage by herself or in small venues like coffee houses. She has a clear and strong voice that makes her accessible and because she seems to rely on very few production elements, her music seems like it would resonate well live. If there were a deluxe version with the album done in acoustic form, I'd definitely give it a shake!

As it is, Girls And Boys makes for an auspicious musical outing by a young artist who is enough to give listeners hope that not all talent is lost in the younger generation.

The best track is "Glass" (probably only because I'm melancholy right now, "The Way I Am" is pretty extraordinary, too!). The hidden bonus track - "Far Away" - is fun, but it feels like an afterthought in many ways.

For other works by Ingrid Michaelson, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Be OK
Everybody
Human Again

6.5/10

Check out how this album stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Music Review Index Page where the albums and singles are organized from best to worst!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Ingrid Michaelson Shows Real Creative Growth On Human Again!

The Good: Wonderful lyrics, Great voice, Richer musical sound
The Bad: Much of the music sounds like itself, SHORT!
The Basics: The deluxe edition of Human Again illustrates more musical growth from Ingrid Michaelson and makes the listener wish there was more!


Somewhere along the way, it appears that I became an Ingrid Michaelson fan. Having reviewed Be Ok (here!) and Everybody (here!), it was no surprise to me that when her new album Human Again dropped, the only version of it that I wanted was the deluxe edition. And with Human Again, Ingrid Michaelson once again illustrates that she is dominating the quirky, emotive, one woman pop music niche that seems pretty much dead outside her work these days.

For those unfamiliar with the works of Ingrid Michaelson, Michaelson hit it big back in the late 2000s when one of her songs was featured on sweater advertisements for The Gap. While she has seldom charted her singles, her followers – which I apparently have become as I have four out of her five studio albums! – enjoy her quirky live performances and forthright lyrics. Often, Ingrid Michaelson couches the most emotionally strained lyrics in deceptively upbeat pop music tunes. On Human Again, she tends to go for the more direct. The sad songs sound sad, the happy songs sound appropriately upbeat.

Rather refreshing for those who are used to fairly banal pop music, Human Again continues Ingrid Michaelson’s artistic tradition. As such, she wrote and composed all of the tracks. With seventeen tracks (three are demo are live versions of songs that appear only on the standard album), the deluxe version of Human Again is passionate, energetic and sometimes truly sad. The extended album features Michaelson on the piano on almost all of the songs. She provides all of the lead vocals. In fact, the only part of Human Again that is not distinctly from Michaelson is the album’s production. David Kahne produced the album, but considering how involved Michaelson is in every other aspect of the album, it seems unlikely that she would let any of it appear in a manner she was uncomfortable with.

Vocally, Human Again illustrates exceptional range for Ingrid Michaelson. She wails mournfully in the higher registers for “Ghost” and is light and playful, but much lower for “Ribbons.” Unlike most pop albums these days, Human Again features actual vocals from the artist, which is exceptionally cool. In fact, only on “Black And Blue” do the vocals sound produced in away that impedes hearing Michaelson’s natural voice. The rest of the album has exceptional range and a wonderful sound.

On the instrumental front, Human Again is a more robust album than some of Michaelson’s prior ones. Very far from the simple sound of one woman and a guitar or one woman and a piano, Human Again is rich in its melodies. From the somewhat manic refrains of “Palm Of Your Hand” to the aching ballad of “Ghost,” there is a consistent richness to Human Again. Nicely produced to let the vocals breathe, Human Again has excellent backing percussion and extensive strings on many of the songs that are uncommon in pop music. Michaelson makes it work and she makes it work exceptionally well here!

Lyrically, Human Again gives Michaelson a real chance to shine and express herself. With powerful analogies, she takes traditional themes of love and loss and makes them feel fresh again. When she sings “Do you remember when the walls fell / Do you remember the sound that the door made when you closed it on me / Do you know that I went down to the ground / Landed on both my broken-hearted knees / I didn’t even cry / 'Cause pieces of me had already died / I’m a ghost / Haunting these halls / Climbing up walls that I never knew were there / And I’m lost / Broken down the middle of my heart“ (“Ghost”), it is hard not to feel entirely empty and hurt.

More than any artist in recent memory, Ingrid Michaelson has the ability to use repetition and surprisingly simple rhymes to convey great themes and messages. Several of her songs are little storysongs and with lines like “Eyes on the prize and I can't capsize this time / 'Cause there's somebody else in my boat / Used to live alone in a tomb I made my own / But now I've gone and given up my coat / And it's cold outside but I'm just fine / You are mine to keep warm” (“Keep Warm”), Michaelson strings together an engaging musical yarn. In fact, long before her “live” version comes up on the deluxe edition of Human Again, it is pretty obvious that “The End Of The World” is about love during the zombie apocalypse!

What Human Again does exceptionally well, though, is present a very haunting series of songs that stick with the listener. “I’m Through” stands out as especially emotionally brutal and memorable. The poetics of “I know there'll come a time again / When everything will fit right in / And I won't have to see your face / In strangers on the street / But I would rather feel the sting / Than never to have felt a thing / I'll always know you were the one / To rip me from the ground / It's all because of you that I'm through / It's all because of you that I'm all through” (“I’m Through”) are cold and the song is enough to jostle any listener into making sure they know what they want when they end a romantic relationship!

Ultimately, Human Again, in its deluxe edition, is well-worth picking up and there is enough substance to the lyrics and sound to make virtually anyone fall in love with the wit and sophistication of Ingrid Michaelson.

The best track is “Ghost” (though “Blood Brothers” is a very close second), “Do It Now” is too poppy for my tastes.

For other works by ambitious female artist, be sure to check out my reviews of:
Night Of Hunters - Tori Amos
21 - Adele
300 Days At Sea - Heather Nova

7.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the albums and singles I have reviewed!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Everybody Is Fun And Emotionally Wrenching Ingrid Michaelson!

The Good: Voice, Lyrics, Some of the theme
The Bad: Short, Musically limited, Uneven themes.
The Basics: Everybody gives the listener emotional whiplash, but is pretty worthwhile Ingrid Michaelson.


A few days ago, my wife noticed a package came for her and she quickly guessed its contents. I had gotten her a little computer tablet that would allow her to draw on her computer easier. She figured it out pretty quickly and goaded me into giving her big holiday gift early. Bummer. So, to make things even for our anniversary - which is what the gift suddenly ended up being for - my wife gave me a gift she had been holding for me; Ingrid Michaelson's album Everybody. So, as today is our anniversary and I have been listening to the album most of the week, it seemed a fitting time to review it.

I have enjoyed Ingrid Michaelson's albums for the most part, as my review of Be Ok (reviewed here!) illustrates. Since reviewing Michaelson's earliest albums, I have discovered a multitude of YouTube videos of Michaelson's concerts and discovered she puts on a very entertaining show. So, I suspect that my wife knows that I'd like to see Michaelson live now and that is why she thought I might like Everybody. And I did like Everybody, but objectively, it is a closer-to-average album than I would have hoped.

Everybody is a distinctly Ingrid Michaelson album. Michaelson wrote all of the songs and music and co-produced the album. Michaelson sings all of the primary vocals and plays a number of instruments on it as well. Michaelson plays the piano, ukulele, acoustic guitar, Rhodes and organ, so she was integral in every level of this album.

And outside being short and emotionally manipulative, Everybody is a wonderful contemporary pop album that puts the likes of Katy Perry to shame. The primary issue with Everybody is that song to song the album holds up poorly. Each song is good to great (LOVE "The Chain!"), but the album holds together poorly as a listening experience. One song will be angsty and depressing, the next will be peppy and enthusiastic. The album does not take the listener on an emotional journey from one emotion to another, but rather with an erratic sense, jerking the listener from joy to pain to danceably enthusiastic.

Ingrid Michaelson has decent range on Everybody, but what is most impressive about her vocals is how articulate she can be at speed. When she sings fast on "Everybody" (the single), she manages to be perfectly articulate. Michaelson sings lower on "The Chain" and higher on "Mountain And The Sea." Songs like "Everybody" are presented high and perky, so there is decent vocal and emotional range on Everybody.

What Everybody is less impressive with is the instrumental accompaniment. Ingrid Michaelson plays many different musical instruments and the album has more musical diversity than most pop albums, at least in terms of the types of instruments being played. But Everybody has essentially two sounds, bouncy perky and slow and sad. The pianowork is not particularly imaginative and the guitarwork is pretty limited as well. This is not to say that the album is unpleasant to listen to, but by the fifth song, one has pretty much heard all that the album musically has to offer. In fact, the final four songs on the album do not stand out at all instrumentally, so when I am not listening to the album (as I am not right now), I could not even recall their sound. Given that I have listened to this album twelve times over the last three days, that is not a good sign.

What Everybody does have going for it that shoots it to the upper ranges of what I might consider an "average" album are quality lyrics. For sure, Ingrid Michaelson does not nail every line, but she has a way of making even some of the clunky lines work. In the hands of a lesser artist, rhyming "glove" and "love" would be universally disastrous (as Ingrid Michaelson does on the song "Everybody"). Somehow, Michaelson sells the rhyme with her perky presentation and the enthusiastic repetition of the title word.

Michaelson has a folk music feel on "Men Of Snow," when she sings a musical storysong. The theme of loneliness pervades the song well as she sings about making and befriending a snowman. When she sings "But when I came around the next day / My friend had gone and melted all away / I saw his eyes lying on the ground / And I made a sound that was something like crying" ("Men Of Snow"), it is heartwrenching. The sense of progression in the musical story makes the listener actually miss the character! There is a sense of loss that she characterizes well both through the lyrics and the presentation of the lines.

While I love "The Chain," because that song appears on a prior album of Ingrid Michaelson's, I tend to discount its lyrical contribution to Everybody. What impressed me was how Michaelson made a song with a similar emotional resonance with "Are We There Yet?" On that song, Michaelson attacks many popular cliches about relationships and pairs them with the musical protagonist's sense of loneliness. When she opens with "They say that home is where the heart is / I guess I haven't found my home / And we keep driving round in circles / Afraid to call this place our own" ("Are We There Yet?"), she establishes a profound sense of angst that is uncommon in today's pop music. Ingrid Michaelson is a vastly more articulate artist than most singers on the radio today.

Because she is so articulate and performs so well, Everybody is well worth the buy.
Despite the album being so short, anyone who likes pop music will find something to like on this album. The best track is "The Chain" or "Are We There Yet" (for an original track), the low point might well be the utterly unmemorable "Maybe."

For other works by worthwhile female artists, please be sure to check out my reviews of:
South - Heather Nova
One Cell In The Sea - A Fine Frenzy
Tidal - Fiona Apple

6/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

If Anyone Can Be Ok, It Is Ingrid Michaelson!

The Good: Great voice, Some decent lyrics, Covers are good
The Bad: SHORT!, Illustrates no real growth for the artist, Musically understated/repetitive
The Basics: A much more enthusiastic "recommend" than the "average" rating, Ingrid Michaelson's Be Ok leaves the listener wanting more...and wondering why it isn't on here!


A few years back, I was watching television and I saw a commercial for The Gap and the only reason I did not flip the channel from the Hollywood beautiful women crossing my screen was the music. The song was "The Way I Am" and it was from the Ingrid Michaelson c.d. Girls And Boys. It was on the commercial because it referenced sweaters. With her new album, Be Ok, I suspect that The Gap might avoid the title track and instead go for the penultimate track "You And I." I suggest this, not just because it references sweaters again, but rather because it has a whole sound of community and right around the holidays, that seems to be when The Gap brings out their commercials of lots of different people together singing and looking happy.

Be Ok is a fresh, diverse c.d. and the way I finally reconciled it was to compare it to Hem's album No Word From Tom. On that album, Hem presented completed versions of previously released songs, covers, and live versions of their earlier works as well. On Be Ok, Ingrid Michaelson has two cover songs, two live tracks and an acoustic version of a track intermixed with the brand new songs. And it is a good album, don't get me wrong. This is one that I am enthusiastically recommending to anyone who likes female singer-songwriters. But objectively, it's taking a hit with the star rating because it is rather short (Michaelson could have put her prior album and this one together on a c.d. without necessarily even losing a track the way they pack them in nowadays!) and musically, it illustrates little growth from Girls And Boys.

With only eleven tracks and a running time of 32:12, Ingrid Michaelson is capitalizing on her past success(es) and songs that easily fit her vocal talents without providing a whole lot that is new. Considering that "Over The Rainbow" and "Can't Help Falling In Love" are covers, this is not entirely an expression of Michaelson's own artistic abilities. Similarly, putting a live version of her biggest mainstream hit, "The Way I Am" on Be Ok seems odd, especially considering how little production there was on the original track. And putting “Be Ok” on the album twice (the final track is an acoustic version of the song) is just annoying (the song is terribly repetitive). That said, she wrote all but the two songs ("The Chain" is NOT a cover of the Fleetwood Mac song!) and she appears to have done the primary vocals on every track. If she is playing her own instruments, that is not clear by the liner notes which are pretty paltry. To her credit, though, Michaelson does have a production or co-production credit on seven of the songs. It seems like it would be her musical vision, then.

And to be fair to Michaelson, it's a good album. It is honestly been hard since I picked up the album yesterday (yes, I've already listened to it more than eight times!) to turn it off and go back to listening to the stack of James Taylor c.d.s I have to listen to, review and post (they'll start tomorrow!). The songs range from the subtle and melancholy ("Giving Up," "The Chain") to the annoyingly peppy (“Be Ok,” "You And I").

For those not familiar with Ingrid Michaelson (not much of a surprise considering her previous album and its prime single did not break out the way many of us hoped it might), Michaelson is pretty much the embodiment of the stereotype of the one woman with a guitar and spirit. Her lyrics strike one as the type of young woman who would sit in classes writing poetry as opposed to paying attention and her sound is minimalistic and often folksy. “Be Ok” is accompanied by an easy guitar strumming tune and a snapping sound before the tambourine comes in. "The Chain" is vocally haunting because of the supporting vocals. There is minimal percussion on most of the tracks and it is generally a quiet album.

Songs like "Over The Rainbow" illustrate her range. This might well have been the perfect choice for her to cover. Accompanied by a guitar or banjo (it does not sound like she is using a ukulele) she allows her soprano voice to do the talking. To that end, Michaelson has a pretty impressive range. She keeps solidly alto on Be Ok, goes from lower into the soprano range on "Giving Up" and gives a rousing soprano performance for "Over The Rainbow." She has impressive vocal abilities, even if she seldom holds notes terribly long.

Like her superlative "Glass" on Girls And Boys, Ingrid Michaelson illustrates impressive lyrical abilities on "Giving Up." On that track, she sings a sad song wherein the musical protagonist begins to question her relationship and then resolves to leave over the course of lines like "What if we stop having a ball? / What if the paint chips from the wall? /What if there's always cups in the sink? /What if I'm not what you think I am? /What if I fall further than you? / What if you dream of somebody new? /What if I never let you win, chase you with a rolling pin? / Well what if I do?/ I am giving up on making passes and / I am giving up on half empty glasses and / I am giving up on greener grasses. / I am giving up" ("Giving Up"). Michaelson's diction might not be incredible, but her expressive abilities are solid; she has a universal sentiment and an amazing way to phrase it!

She continues that ability and level of emotive quality on her story-song "The Chain." "The Chain" is one of three songs recorded live on Be Ok and it is the only one that includes the annoying conceit of crowd noises responding to the song at the very end, as if to prove to the listener that it actually was recorded live. And for a change, I'm fine with that: the audience cheers at the end of "The Chain" and I felt like cheering at least the first four times I heard this song. Why? It's impressive in its style and lyrical strength. Michaelson sings a beautiful story when she sings "The sky looks pissed / The wind talks back / My bones are shifting in my skin / And you, my love, are gone. / My room seems wrong / My bed won't fit / I cannot seem to operate / And you, my love, are gone. / So glide away and so be healed / I promise not to promise anymore / And if you come around again / Then I will take . . . the chain from off the door" ("The Chain").

What makes "The Chain" so wrenching is that the refrain continues to be repeated as a cannon and it is quite extraordinary. I'm not big on repetition, but Michaelson knows how to do this to make an agonizing (in the best possible way) track. She expresses desire and loss and eager anticipation in that cannon until she brings it all closed with a stark reunion of all the voices. It is exceptional and if one had to use one track to try to sell this album, it ought to be that one.

I write that in stark opposition to “Be Ok,” the album's title track and a song that kills quite a few of the minutes on this album given that it opens and an acoustic version closes the album. This song suffers for two reasons: 1. I play my albums on a continuous loop and there aren't a ton of differences between the produced and acoustic versions of the song and 2. It is a repetitive song to begin with. This peppy, upbeat, annoying track, is plagued by repetition with its foot-tapping beat to the lines "I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok / I just want to be ok today / I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok / I just want to be ok today" (“Be Ok”). "Ok" is repeated an excruciating nineteen times and is only trumped by "today," which is sung twenty-four times in the song.

The reason this is so problematic is that it certainly seems that Michaelson has the talent to write more and better and she wastes it some with “Be Ok.”

What she does illustrate an impressive talent for is interpretations. I've heard "Can't Help Falling In Love" from UB40 and Elvis Presley and I've never heard it with the longing that Michaelson puts into it. Indeed, in her version, when she sings "take my hand . . ." there is a quality that is infused with quiet desperation, as the musical protagonist essentially begs to be loved and there is no evidence that she gets her wish! It is heartwrenching.

Michaelson's guitarwork shows little progress between her last album and this one. She is still unambitious musically and while there is nothing wrong with letting her voice carry most of the songs, her limitations reminded me of A Fine Frenzy's album One Cell In The Sea (reviewed here!) which I was left feeling rather ambivalent about when I picked that up earlier this year. Similarly, "Over The Rainbow," "Oh What A Day" and "You And I" all have the same opening guitar sound. With songs on an already short and repetitive album sounding so alike, it makes one wonder if Michaelson is simply phoning the instrumentals in.

Still, Be Ok has an infectious quality that makes it an overall pleasant album and great for kicking back in the evening to listen to, especially with a loved one. It is mellow, expressive and good.

It is a rare thing that I have trouble picking a superlative song, but on Be Ok it is a tight race between "Giving Up," "The Chain," and "You And I." Because I suspect that "You And I" might get some decent exposure and be the obvious choice, I'm nailing it down to "The Chain" for the best track on Be Ok (it's so beautiful!). The low point is "Lady In Spain" which has a pretty obvious rhyme scheme.

For other cool female artists, please check out my reviews of:
Closer: The Best Of Sarah McLachlan - Sarah McLachlan
300 Days At Sea - Heather Nova
21 - Adele

6.5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |