Discovered from her MySpace page, Ingrid Michaelson’s breakout hit, “The Way I Am” has appeared on Old Navy commercials, and her songs have been featured on shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “One Tree Hill.” Her self-released last album “Girls and Boys” sold 230,000 copies reaching No. 2 on the i-Tunes pop chart. Consciously or not, anyone with a television or a computer has heard the indie pop songstress’s distinct voice. Lately, it seems like everything she touches turns into gold –all the more reason to think that her latest effort “Be Ok” (released on Oct. 14) is a disappointment.
“Be Ok” sounds nothing like “Girls and Boys”; it feels like an incomplete album (only 11 songs and lasting only 32 minutes) assembled haphazardly instead of a well-crafted and polished work that “Girls and Boys” was. Of the 11 tracks, two are covers, two are slightly versions of the same song, one is a live version of a song previously recorded on “Girls and Boys.” With the lack of new material, few would think that Michaelson’s project is worth doing. Or if it is an album worth buying.
Despite these reasons, however, “Be Ok” is an opportunity to hear Michaelson’s voice at its purest. A mix of previously unreleased songs, covers, and live recordings from shows in the past year, the album is stripped of the bold instrumentations from studio sessions (most noticeably the guitar riffs) that accompanied the songs in “Girls and Boys.” Most of the time Michaelson sings only with the help of a lone ukulele, guitar or a piano, resulting in intimacy and purity that help showcase her vocals which are hauntingly beautiful and slightly off-kilter.
Proceeds of the album will benefit Stand Up to Cancer, and all the songs appropriately reflect the message of hope. The songs instantly invoke smiles – whether jubilantly with the title track, “Be Ok “ where Michaelson’s determinedly upbeat vocals are complemented with rousing handclapping, or wistfully as in “Oh What A Day” where she desperately yearns for “something good” after a break up.
Michaelson’s songwriting, lauded in “Girls and Boys” for its quirkiness, resurfaces again in a few songs. In “You and I” she sings , “Maybe I want to do what bunnies do/ with you if you know what I mean” and in “Lady in Spain” , “I am a lady from Mars / And I can unscrew the stars.” The best lyrics belong to “The Chain” where the songs starts with “The sky looks pissed..” “The Chain” is also the best track of the album, a live performance done with complex, harmonized vocals with the help of band mate Allison Moss .
Michaelson’s covers of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” and “Over the Rainbow” are also beautifully done. She sings the former with an earnestness that even Elvis didn’t have (not arguing that hers is better than the King’s, just distinctly different). And like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole’s version of the latter, Michaelson sings “Rainbow” accompanied by the ukulele. Equally haunting, Michaelson’s voice makes it her own. Singing reservedly in the rest of the album, she is sweetly hesitant for most of the song but lets go at key points, resulting in a powerful and memorable performance.
"Be Ok” should not be considered the official follow up to “Girls and Boys” but as its supplement. Not taken as an entire album, but as a collection of songs, it is a worthy testament to Michaelson’s talent.
Ingrid Michaelson BE OK
Michaelson's "Be Ok"
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