![]() One doesn’t need to look beyond ‘Beautiful Unknown’ to hear the resurgence of Ingrid’s wistful balladry, featuring a simple percussion-driven rhythm that is underscored by atmospheric classical piano notes. She abandons the string-tethered frills of Human Again, returning to the piano-laden roots of her past. It’s a very humble record, from start to finish. In a way, Lights Out harkens back to Michaelson’s philosophy during that old interview. ![]() After all, she is anything but “not that good”, with her meek Myspace beginnings launching a critically acclaimed indie-songwriting career. Even if she is - by her own admission - an average musician, then her humble vision and creativity has allowed her to grow into a phenomenal artist. Perhaps it is the honesty that she upholds with herself that has allowed her to perfect her craft. 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. Last 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. In it, Michaelson ruminates on the small details of her everyday life, singing "We make bread on Sundays and the little ones are climbing the walls/Up the walls/Nothing lasts forever but the sound of love astounds me every time that it calls." Ultimately, on Lights Out, Michaelson has captured that sound of love.Review Summary: You and me we got this, you and me we're beautiful Elsewhere, we get the catchy dance-pop duet "One Night Town" with Mat Kearney and the uplifting anthem "Afterlife." There's also a very in-the-moment feeling of both poignancy and happiness to Lights Out, which is perhaps best expressed in the midtempo Beatlesque ballad "Wonderful Unknown," featuring Michaelson's husband, singer/songwriter Greg Laswell. Cuts like the bluesy, handclap-heavy "Warpath" and the similarly fiery "Time Machine," with its '90s-esque sax samples, are more emblematic of the album's ambitious, empowered tone. While there are a few of Michaelson's trademark intimate breakup songs here, including the tear-inducing "Open Hands," overall the album reveals Michaelson to be in a bright, upbeat state of mind. Michaelson even reunites with longtime collaborator Dan Romer for the epic ballad "Over You," featuring A Great Big World. This time out, Michaelson has enlisted a handful of producers who include, among others, her bandmate bassist Chris Kuffner, Jacquire King ( Modest Mouse, Norah Jones), and singer/songwriter Katie Herzig. 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. 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.
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