It Doesn't Have to Make Sense

Audio Mixers: Sean Moffitt; F. Reid Shippen; Serban Ghenea.
Recording information: Atomic Matter Studios, Brooklyn, NY; Casonic Lodge, Nashville, TN; Grand Street Recording, Brooklyn, NY.
Photographer: Shervin Lainez.
Ingrid Michaelson's seventh studio album, 2016's It Doesn't Have to Make Sense, finds the singer/songwriter delving into a set of sonically robust, emotionally transfiguring anthems recorded in the wake of her mother's death and the breakup of her marriage. The album follows her similarly lush 2014 effort, Lights Out, and as with that record, this one features production from a handful of longtime collaborators including bandmate bassist Chris Kuffner, Katie Herzig, Dan Romer, and others. Notably, It Doesn't Have to Make Sense was recorded after a particularly difficult period for Michaelson that found her dealing with her grief over her mother's passing, as well as her own health issues, and ultimately, the end of her marriage to singer/songwriter Greg Laswell in 2015. However, while all of these issues play into the themes of It Doesn't Have to Make Sense, it would be reductive to call this a breakup album. Primarily, Michaelson celebrates the ups and downs of life with a combination of poignancy, remembrance, and empowerment. Some cuts, like the yearning, orchestral-tinged "Drink You Gone," play with notions of romantic disappointment and resentment without getting too specific. Others, like the crisply attenuated, electronic-tinged "Hell No," juxtapose uncomfortably specific details like "I saw her wearing your sweater/Nice glasses, fake red hair/Just like me," against a buoyant melody, sparkling instrumentation, and an ecstatic chorus. Certainly, "I Remember Her" is a poetic rumination on death and how our feelings for loved ones become inextricably entwined with our sense memory of objects, smells, and holidays. Michaelson sings,"There's a smell that heat makes, it reminds me of Christmas and birthdays in December/I remember her." Elsewhere, Michaelson offers up several catchy sides in "Miss America" and the gleeful "Celebrate," that, as with most of It Doesn't Have to Make Sense, showcase her longstanding knack for transforming her personal feelings and experiences into universally relatable anthems. ~ Matt Collar