Ingrid Michaelson teamed up with producer David Kahne for her fourth studio album, 'Human Again'. Many of us fell in love with Ingrid when she performed her duet 'Winter Song' with Sara Bareilles on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, while others fell in love with her music and didn't even know it. Her music has been on some of our favorite television shows, such as Scrubs, Bones, Grey's Anatomy and One Tree Hill to name a few. Yet still, some will know her from her catchy “The Way I Am” featured in Old Navy's campaign advertisement in 2007, a song which actually went platinum.
Michaelson, 32 now, is all grown up and ready to rise to new heights. "I kind of always feel like the little sister at the older sister's slumber party," she told Billboard.com, "I either want to be a little older or maybe the older sister."
This album is more mature and loses the kitsch that Michaelson is widely recognized for. "I played a few of the songs for my father that we've been working on, and he asked me where are all the peppy songs were. Evidently, there aren't any peppy songs on this record. But that's OK, I'm not a little kid anymore. I love singing my little ukulele songs. But I feel like it's time to stand up and really sing. [This record] is fiercer and not as childlike. Not to dis my old work, but I feel like I've done the whole barefoot singer-songwriter thing, "she told Oh No They Didn't Magazine.
The album begins with the up-beat, fast paced strings of 'Fire' and quickly sends you into Ingrid's world. This is a rhythmic roller coaster and she intends to have you fasten your seat belts as she introduces you to 'Human Again.'
The intense imagery in her lyrics, and beautiful notes from the soft keys of a mellow piano make it hard to not appreciate 'I'm Through.' The fourth song on the album, it revisits the essence of Ingrid's talent and reassures the listener of why they enjoy her music in the first place, while 'Ghost' is the highlight of the album, in my humble opinion. This record pours out Ingrid's pain through passionate lyrics and raw emotion. Kahne's production is especially well arranged and executed here.
Ingrid produced this album through her label Cabin 24, as she did with her last three albums (her first was self released), and a partnership with Mom + Pop. It looks to satisfy and is in stores now. Barnes and Noble and iTunes both have separate bonus tracks.
Listen to the lead single "Ghost."
Ingrid Michaelson "Stands Up" For New Album 'Human Again'
1/25/2012 7:50:25 AM
