Everybody

Ingrid Michaelson

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 25, 2009)
• Original Release Date: August 25, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Cabin 24
• ASIN: B002H6NVR4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #282 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

"This is my big girl record," declares Ingrid Michaelson of Everybody, her second full-length CD out August 25. "It's almost a loss of innocence. I'm 29 years old and I shouldn't worry if my mom and dad know that I kissed a boy from listening to one of my songs, but I remember on my first album I was like, 'Can I say that?'" On that first album, 2007's critically lauded Girls and Boys, the singer/songwriter infiltrated the mainstream airways with smart love songs like "The Way I Am," a single that has gone on to sell over one million copies worldwide. With Everybody, she brings a newfound wisdom and maturity to her music, gleaned from touring the world. "This album is very autobiographical, it's about the past year in a half of my life and choices that I've made," Michaelson says. "I had other songs that weren't about that and I purposely didn't put them on the album. If it didn't fit the record I kicked it off!" Born in New York City and raised by her mother, a sculptor, and her father, a classical composer, Ingrid has artistry in her DNA. At four she began taking piano lessons but it wasn't until after she graduated college with a degree in musical theatre and was touring the country in a theater troupe that she began to write the dreamy, pensive-but-poppy songs that would connect with millions. Her music taps into universal themes like self-doubt, betrayal, and of course love, but her spirit is fiercely indie; Ingrid's last studio album, 2007's Girls and Boys, was released on the label she founded, Cabin 24 Records. The record's soaring delicacy caught the ear of Grey's Anatomy's music supervisor and after featuring several of her songs in earlier episodes, Ingrid's heart wrenching ode to emotional paralysis "Keep Breathing" was chosen to soundtrack the show's 2007 season finale, which more than 25 million teary-eyed fans watched. Afterwards, everyone went Ingrid crazy: Her lyrics and name were #1 and #2 on Google's most searched items list, Girls and Boys climbed the iTunes charts and she began to earn national media attention. That fall, when Ingrid's song "The Way I Am" was featured in Old Navy's commercial, it propelled Girls and Boys into the Billboard Top 200 and the record hit #1 on both the Heatseeker and Alternative New Artist Album charts. Ingrid's MySpace page registered 90,000 hits per day and she reached the #4 song overall on iTunes - all unprecedented feats for an independent release. Since then, Ingrid has continued to chart on the Billboard Top 200 multiple times selling over 300,000 copies of Girls and Boys. Since the release of Girls and Boys two short years ago, Ingrid has appeared on Good Morning America, Live with Regis & Kelly, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, NPR's Talk of the Nation, Fuse TV and was a VH1 You Oughta Know artist. She has also been the subject of print features in publications as varied as the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Billboard. Ingrid's rise was so quick she didn't have time to ease into touring. Within a few months the singer, who had never played more than a few local shows at a time, found herself on tour with Dave Matthews and Jason Mraz, as was selling out 1500-capacity club venues on her own. Ingrid adjusted with typical alacrity and good-humor, honing a performance style that's very much in keeping with her quirky personality. Her sets routinely include her now-plentiful list of hits plus witty covers of songs like "Ice Ice Baby," and the theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. With all her heady success Ingrid could easily have gone diva by now but that's not her style. Instead of lounging by a hotel pool demanding bowls of green Jolly Ranchers or falling out of clubs at four in the morning in foreign cities she amuses herself by making up dances to Jordin Sparks songs with her roommate, then putting them on YouTube. And she keeps herself creatively fresh by insisting on a similar level of commitment to individualism in the way she approaches her work. "I did most of the vocals for the new record at Shelter Island studios but I ended up re-doing them in my producer's closet, which is his vocal booth," Ingrid says of her work with producer Dan Romer. "I felt better being in there for some reason. I wrote [first single] "Maybe" two months ago. It wasn't going to be on the record. A song we threw together at the last minute ended up being the single. The other single "Everybody" - we recorded the drums at the fancy studio and sang at the fancy studio, but everything has been redone at Dan's house anyway. When I was in Dan's house there was no pressure." It's exactly this insistence on keeping things unflinchingly honest, regardless of professional success or personal heartache that defines Ingrid's connection to her fans. She rose to fame by singing about her faith in love, and now she's written an album that questions that faith, which she knows is risky but she also knows its right. "With the first album I was just learning how to use my tools. Now I feel like I can sharpen my skills and say things how I want to say them. Now I feel free to say things about myself that I would have maybe been embarrassed about before. It's like a big old therapy session."

Product Description

Highly anticipated 2009 album from the singer/songwriter. Everybody is the eagerly-awaited follow-up to her 2007 release, Girls and Boys, which spawned the hit single 'The Way I Am' and launched Ingrid into the mainstream consciousness. The New York Times describes Michaelson's unique musical approach as 'soulful, idiosyncratic,' while Rolling Stone loves her 'sweet but mellow lounge-pop harmonies,' and Entertainment Weekly hails Michaelson as 'a deft mistress of quirk folk: a grassroots phenomenon.' Features 12 tracks including the first single 'Maybe'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some really nice songs, but overall disappointing, August 26, 2009

By	K. Zwick (NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Let me start off by saying that I truly respect and admire Ingrid Michaelson and her amazing talent. I only write this review in the hope that it might make some difference for the next album, not to dissuade anyone from buying it.

I first heard Ingrid back when she played at the Bitter End, before she was on Grey's Anatomy, and I bought "Girls and Boys" on the spot. While I've given that album a rest for chunks of time, I always come back to it and find new depth in it. Although I've listened to it hundreds of times already, I've had it on my 1 GB Shuffle lately (minus a couple of songs), and it would be on Repeat if there were such a feature.

"Mountain and the Sea" was the first song I heard from "Everybody". I heard it online last week and couldn't stop playing it the one day it was available. The new album was coming out in only three days, and I was expecting the rest of the cd to grab me like "Mountain," so I could hardly wait to get my hands on it. But I'm sad to say I am a bit disappointed. I was hoping for something with the same depth and lasting power as "Girls and Boys," but after one day and just a few listens, I'm already close to taking half the cd off my Shuffle. "Soldier," "Everybody," "Mountain and the Sea," "Once Was Love," "Locked Up," and "Maybe" are all very catchy and my favorites at the moment. But most of them are very repetitive, containing only a few lines here and there that are on par to the lyrics from "Girls and Boys." Some of the less catchy tunes-- like "So Long"-- have good lyrics, but the sound is somewhat bland. "Boys and Girls" combined great tunes with great lyrics. "Everybody" splits the two (sometimes within a single song!) and the whole album suffers for it. One of my main gripes with the cd is the overuse of the word "love." Not only is the word in two song titles, but it's littered through almost every song in overabundance. "Girls and Boys" was about love too, but she didn't need to use the word so many times - she found more creative ways to express her feelings than "My love's too big for you my love." Now don't get me wrong - there are some really great lyrics on this cd. But they're easily drowned out by the incessantly nagging "love." While the title song is one of my favorites now, I don't know how long the catchy tune will keep me listening to "Everybody knows the love/ Everybody holds the love/ Everybody folds for love/ Everybody feels the love/ Everybody steals the love/ Everybody heals with love." Take this stanza, which starts out promising and ends all gushy: "Happy is the heart that still feels pain/ Darkness drains and light will come again/ Swing open your chest and let it in/ Just let the love, love, love begin." I almost want to believe that this overuse was a commentary by Ingrid on the meaninglessness of the word "love," but I fear the execution is too sincere to be taken as a parody of love songs.

Perhaps this cd was an attempt at mainstream radio music, focusing more on the catchiness of the tune than the depth of the lyrics. In that regard, it might work. But I hope she got it out of her system and the next album will be something I'd be inclined to share with friends, like I would the songs "Breakable" and "Overboard."

I'm being tough on this cd only because I had such high expectations and was hoping for a full album of songs that I'd be relishing years from now. While the cd as a whole is disappointing, there are some very nice gems on there. "Mountain and the Sea," "Soldier," and "Locked Up" are particular favorites of mine, strong in both music and lyrics (and making less use of the word "love!"), that might stand the test of time. And while the album may not live up to its predecessor, there's enough there for me to go see her live in September, and I have hope that her next album will be even better. At least I have a few great new songs to listen to for now. It was worth the money, and I would still recommend it to someone in need for some new music. This is a fine cd that I might have been happier with had the bar not been set so high with its older sibling. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michaelson's Best Thus Far, August 26, 2009

By	Berkley Todd (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A huge fan of her past work, I've been anticipating the release of this album for months. My expectations were incredibly high, yet somehow, Michaelson has managed to exceed them. With this album she has finally solidified her sound, and with access to higher production values, she has made good use of the studio. This album is not over-produced, as we often see happen to many artists like her, but is excellently orchestrated on every track to achieve an effect that is simultaneously intimate and grand. These sounds would fill the largest concert hall, yet also be very in place at your local coffee shop. This is what sets this album apart from her previous work "Girls & Boys." Here, we such a much broader variety of sounds and musical colors; however, they are all distinctly Michaelson, tied together by her unique, sultry vocal quality.

All songs seem relatively simple lyrically, but upon closer examination you'll find that the lyrics actually work on many levels, using beautiful metaphors and often idiomatic phrases to achieve a deep sort of representational meaning. For example, in the stunning ballad Are We There Yet, Michaelson sings of silver linings in clouds and images of a peaceful home to create a sense of longing for a non-present simple love. Though lyrics often repeat, they do so out of necessity, reaching as deep as they can with their poignant messages of hope, love, and loss.

While there isn't a bland track on the album, standouts include Soldier, Everybody, Are We There Yet, Sort Of, The Chain, Mountain and the Sea, Locked Up, and Maybe. An absolute must have for your collection, "Everybody" may just become one of your favorites. In just a day, it has quickly become one of mine.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ingrid Michaelson Takes A Step Toward Mainstream, September 6, 2009

By	Philip R. Heath (Hurst, TX United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

So far 2009 has seen a number of "sophomore" releases from artists, and Everybody from Ingrid Michaelson is one of them (I'm not counting the EP Be OK but limiting to major releases). Fans looking for Girls and Boys Part II will not find what they are looking for in Everybody. However deviating from Girls and Boys is not necessarily a bad thing. I found Everybody to be a much more focused work. It is also much more mainstream; however, some will not look on this favorably. You could almost make

Instrumentally, Everybody has more depth and variety. I loved the violin and cello on "Soldier" and "Incredible Love". Michaelson also introduces Ukulele on songs such as "Everybody" and "Mountain And The Sea". It has a feel similar to Israel Kamakawiwo`Ole's rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from 50 First Dates. I also really enjoyed the subtly stated use of trumpet on "So Long". Perhaps as a way of at least loosely connecting with her past work, "Everybody" and "Mountain And The Sea" also feature the folksy hand clapping that Michaelson used on Girls and Boys.

Vocally, Everybody features more of Michaelson's lower register. This comes right out of the gate on "Soldier", and it continues on other tracks such as "Sort Of", "Maybe", and "Incredible Love". That is not to say that Michaelson has switched exclusively to a dusky alto. Songs such as "Are We There Yet", "Men Of Snow", and "The Chain" have plenty of her upper register and falsetto. "The Chain" is the studio version of a song that we first heard on Be OK. It has the same vocal round at the end as the live version did, and it just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of Everybody. As a final note, Everybody has good vocal harmony. I really liked the way this came through on the chorus of "Mountain And The Sea" and "Maybe".

Lyrically, Michaelson plays things much more straight up than she did on Girls and Boys. Love and relationships dominate Everybody as seen on "Soldier" - "And so it goes. The soldier knows./The battle with the heart isn't easily won." and "Maybe" - "Maybe in the future/you're gonna come back/you're gonna come back around". It is obvious from the title alone on "Incredible Love" and "Once Was Love". The one song that would fit with the more unique style of Girls and Boys is "Men Of Snow" where Michaelson tells of building a snowman that she tells her troubles to only to find him melted the next day. Even this still seems friendlier to a wider audience than most of Girls and Boys.

All in all, Everybody is a major step forward for Ingrid Michaelson. While I enjoyed Girls and Boys, it almost seems esoteric compared to Everybody. Michaelson has created a sound that while featuring greater breadth in vocal range and instrumentation is at the same time more focused. Fans of KT Tunstall, Sonya Kitchell, and A Fine Frenzy should give this a try.

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