Ingrid Michaelson- 'Everybody' 

Back in her fourth album, Ingrid Michaelson has amassed a collection of peppy and absolutely cheesy tracks. ‘Everybody,’ released in 2009, somehow managed to peak on the charts at 18^th in that year. If Michaelson has an irritating voice and vapid lyrics, one thing she is good at is catching the eye, or rather ear, of the many young people of America who are so besotted by pop-y artists of this kind.

‘Everybody’ is an example of the way Michaelson’s music has become increasingly commercialized since the release of her first album in 2005. Michaelson’s career as a singer began with her simple, maybe even sweet voice and piano. Since then she has entered full force into the realm of pop which neglects musicality for the gaining of a larger audience. In ‘Everybody’ Michaelson employs the use of bigger and catchier beats and classic ‘young love’ lyrics that are so generic presumably anyone can associate.

Young and spunky Michaelson has made a valiant attempt with the album ‘Everybody’ adding some new instrumentation and even some orchestration to her usual piano, guitar and singing, but the album flops just as much as all other generic girl pop singers have flopped before her, face first into the pool of tastelessness and unoriginality. Despite the staleness of the album, Michaelson is developing quite a following of such people that so enjoy happy, catchy and generic music that also so happen to make up a large portion of the population. Select tracks from ‘Everybody’ have even been featured in TV series and movies such as Grey’s Anatomy and The House Bunny.

This album opens with ‘Soldier,’ a song about heartbreak and other general cardiovascular matters. ‘Everybody’ then continues to the namesake of the album, which proclaims over and over and over, “Everybody, Everybody wants to love” and “Everybody” yes, “Everybody wants to be loved.” The amount of time spent proclaiming this notion suggests perhaps the residue some unfortunate abandonment complex from childhood. The album then skims through several other entirely forgettable tracks and comes to ‘Are We There Yet’ which screeches on with repetitive lyrics (“are we there yet, are we there yet, are we…’you get the idea) until you can’t help screech along, are we at the end of the album yet?

The second half of the album finishes in much the same manner as the first half with completely unremarkable, bland lyrics and Michaelson’s voice, which if cute at first, has now just become severely annoying. The ordinariness of the album, however, does not stop Michaelson from adapting a trademark peppy pop voice as she seems to giggle and jump like a cheerleader through the utterly repetitive remain of the tracks. Her fake cheerfulness only accentuates the unexceptional and cliché quality of both lyrics and songs.