Ingrid Michaelson “Everybody” Review

In a recent interview regarding her latest release, Everybody, Ingrid Michaelson shares, “It’s completely autobiographical, snapshots of my life.” This statement alone should really help listeners understand what has truly happened here. Michaelson explains her experience in recording this album as “Re-crafting the intimate feel of Girls and Boys with big sounds, big builds and big orchestrations.” She follows this up with, “I can always scale back.”

Michaelson’s sophomore album, Girls and Boys, was a classic. The album carried a raw yet intimate sound, but it was the vocals that made the small-studio album what it was: an eventual Billboard hit. Yet with Everybody Michaelson is in a new phase of life, both musically and personally; Everybody chronicles “A relationship so intense and volatile, that both lovers lose themselves in it and disengage.” And after listening to tracks “Once Was Love,” “So Long,” “Men of Snow,” and the album’s first single “Maybe,” fans will have an idea of what her focus was when she wrote and arranged the album. Love, love lost, love remembered, new love, and “Everybody wants to be loved,” is the ongoing theme of this album. Unfortunately though, the theme is supported by lackluster attempts at new vocal and melodic heights.

“Once Was Love” comes close to what Michaelson had hoped this album would be in terms of those “big sounds, big builds and big orchestrations.” It’s full with experimental orchestral sounds which are complemented by heavy piano and drum melodies. Once again however, the song takes an unfortunate turn with her melodramatic, predictable vocals (high-pitched, lengthy, expressive notes) which are similar to that of Sarah McLachlan, though not executed nearly as successfully. The thing about Everybody is that had there been no expectations and no build up of what this album would be from Michaelson herself, the listener could potentially enter the experience uninfluenced and better able to appreciate and under-analyze where she was attempting to go with the recording.

Artists need to have such experiences though, to express themselves the best way they can, re-assess whether their message was accurately delivered, and have the ability to go back to the drawing board if it failed at doing so. Despite Everybody being a step in an unfamiliar direction, with the tracks “Maybe,” “Everybody,” and “Mountain and the Sea,” fans will find satisfaction and should appreciate both her music and lyrics. This is especially true with “Everybody” which is the catchiest tune on the album and elicits some feelgood emotions, primarily due to its poppy guitar melody and rhythmic hand clapping that should go a long way in helping make this a hit at her live shows.

Girls and Boys defined Ingrid Michaelson as an artist beyond her MySpace and web-based following. She established a fan base that truly appreciated the sound that she was able to bring to mainstream radio, pop charts, television shows, iPods and stereos. However, despite my contentions and the album’s ups and downs I feel that it should be heard; although I think that fans should be well prepared to find that Everybody won’t sound quite as they might expect.

[Review by guest contributor Veronica Munguia.]

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