You make me want to be human again.

I like to think that I have some amount of depth to me, and I like to think that I have some amount of opinionated authority when it comes to things that I love.

Like music, for example.

I like to think that what I think about the latest Ingrid Michaelson album carries some weight on the successfulness of the album. And dear Ingrid had better think so too, because it were up to me, Human Again would be one of the top albums of all time. Second only to Sara Bareilles's Kaleidoscope Heart.

Like Sara Bareilles and Jon McLaughlin, to whom I alluded in my last blog post (if you haven't listened to that song yet, do so now), I count Ingrid Michaelson as one of the major influences on my music taste. I believe I was a sophomore, maybe a freshman, in high school when her music first came on my radar. Her melancholy tunes fed my misery during second semester of sophomore year, and her perky songs about running away and ideal lifestyles taught me to dream.

If nothing else, you've probably heard Ingrid's song "The Way I Am" aka "The Sweater Song," which was featured in an Old Navy commercial circa 2008. Her music has also been featured on various TV shows like Grey's Anatomy (on which you can always count to hear great music), and several movies. My personal favorite soundtrack tune is her cover of Elvis Presley's I Can't Help  (Falling In Love), featured in the trailer of the lovely film Like Crazy.

Anyway, this all goes to say that Ingrid's music is not as obscure as one might think.

But I love Ingrid. She has a pure, airy tone to her voice that she'll forever have and I'll forever love, but she has recently come out with a little more of a powerhouse sound. It's obvious that she has more of a voice than she lets on from her performance in a few of her older songs like Turn to Stone. And it was obvious to her true-blue listener (like I like to think I am --- I like to think I'm a lot of things that I'm probably not), that this album was going to be a little more powerful than her older ones on that first listening of Ghost, the brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, single from the new album. When the drumbeat kicks in on that power chorus... Tears, friends. Tears.

“I think I was really singing out, physically, on this album,” she says. “Usually that’s set aside for divas, and the rest of us kind of have to whisper and be precious. I figured, ‘Why don’t I just put that out on at least one record in my career—let it all hang out?’

Anyway, this album is just a snapshot of the beauty of Ingrid Michaelson's music. If you like this album, you'll love the older ones. It's cool to listen to her music from start to finish to see how a person's music can change so much over the years, and yet still stay so true to the artist's voice.


You can purchase this glorious album here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/id476116291


And now, because I know you care, I will provide you with a list of my all-time favorite old-school Ingrid tunes. You should all purchase these, as well as the new album, as soon as possible!!


1. Oh, What A Day - Be OK
2. Keep Breathing - Be OK
3. Are We There Yet? - Everybody
4. Sort Of - Everybody
5. The Chain - Everybody
6. Maybe - Everybody
7. Highway - Girls and Boys
8. Far Away - Girls and Boys
9. Breakable - Girls and Boys
10. Overboard - Girls and Boys
12. Turn to Stone - Single