copyright Cabin 24 Records

On the heels of her 2014 smash LP Lights Out, Staten Island songstress Ingrid Michaelson returns with the contemplative yet confident It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense. The “Girls Chase Boys” crooner invites listeners into her year of loss and recovery with driving pianos and ‘80s-esque drum machines, giving the album’s narrative an audible heartbeat.

After the whirlwind success of her previous album and tour, Michaelson grieved the loss of her mother, along with various health problems and separation from singer-songwriter Greg Laswell, her husband of three years. Instead of trying to force another chart-topping LP, she allowed her time of pain to spill over into this 35 minutes of pure vulnerability. “I Remember Her” and “Drink You Gone” serve more as journal entries than singles, recalling Michaelson’s earlier, minimally produced works. At the same time, she boldly delivers words of female empowerment in “Miss America” (“Don’t need a crown to make me a queen/I’ll never be Miss America”) and the album’s debut single “Hell No” (“We were good at faking forever/I get it, whatever”). 

Ingrid Michaelson – “Hell No” Official Video

Though It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense is rather personal, Michaelson did not go it alone.  She continued in the spirit of collaboration after witnessing its creative power in Lights Out, making the album a “family affair,” she said in an interview with The Boston Globe. With contributions ranging from Nashville’s Katie Herzig to Grammy®-winning country songwriter Luke Laird, Michaelson invited her co-writers to help illustrate her year without stubbornly confining herself to the piano and vocals only. “Celebrate and “Hell No” 

While many of Michaelson’s songs soar, the track order impairs the album’s dynamic. With the exception of “Miss America,” the first six songs create a melancholy blend that started to lose me. However, Michaelson turns on a dime from overcast ballads to sassy, sun-kissed pop, an abrupt yet welcome move. If songs like “Still the One” and “Hell No” had been moved up in the tracklist, the album would be more cohesive and dynamic. Thankfully, Michaelson ties up her latest with “Old Days,” a bittersweet piece about lost love and newfound hope, as she makes Sense of her trying year.

Photo: Billboard