Ingrid Michaelson
Lights Out
Release Date: Apr 15, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter
Record label: Mom + Pop Music
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Buy Lights Out from Amazon
Album Review: Lights Out by Ingrid Michaelson
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Ingrid Michaelson's sixth studio album, 2014's Lights Out, is a polished, well-produced effort that magnifies all of the sounds and lyrical themes she's been working with since breaking through with 2007's Girls and Boys. Michaelson even seems to reference that album with her Lights Out lead single, the infectious "Girls Chase Boys. " However, where Girls and Boys centered around Michaelson's intimate ukulele and acoustic guitar-driven dorm room pop, Lights Out features a broadened sonic palette and a much more robust vocal performance; it's a transformation she's been perfecting since 2009's Everybody and 2012's Human Again.
Based on rating 4.0/5
Review Summary: You and me we got this, you and me we're beautifulLast week I came across a Newsweek interview of Ingrid Michaelson from 2009 in which she candidly expressed, “I get by, I fool people….they think I’m a lot better than I am.” She then admits that while she can produce some basic chords for the piano, ukulele, and guitar – she’s actually “not that good” at any of them. Ingrid has always been the kind of down-to-earth, self-sufficient songwriter that is well aware of her flaws and has never allowed them to become weaknesses. Perhaps it is the honesty that she upholds with herself that has allowed her to perfect her craft.
Based on rating 5/10
Beginning with her 2010 single “Parachute”, Ingrid Michaelson began the transformation from singer/songwriter to pop chanteuse. Over the course of her carefully choreographed career, Michaelson went from MySpace discovery to ukulele-wielding kewpie doll and piano balladeer. With every step, Michaelson’s commercial appeal has benefited from lucrative placements ranging from an Old Navy ad (“The Way I Am”) to TV soundtracks (Grey’s Anatomy, Parenthood, Ugly Betty) and a cross-promotion with retailer Anthropologie for the release of her 2012 album, Human Again.
Opinion: Excellent
Pushing the door wide open, Ingrid Michaelson has made her best album. She lost her voice for several months last year, so she has a new appreciation of her gift. Her voice is deeper and more soulful. And she still employs girlish “ooh-ooh” harmonies, but the result is more adult, at times like an ethereal Kate Bush.
'Lights Out'
is available now