Ingrid Michaelson took a five-year hiatus between albums to work on the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical “The Notebook”. I’m totally into checking it out just because of her involvement, even though I didn’t think much of the movie it’s inspired by. It seems to have also inspired Ingrid to be in a showtune sort of mood because every song on her new album, For The Dreamers, could be featured in an old-school musical.
In my gay opinion, For The Dreamers has a very classic sound with lulling lyrics. There are some well-known covers (“What A Wonderful World” and “You Make Me Feel So Young”) but the majority are new songs written or co-written by Ingrid. “Love Is” (a duet with Jason Mraz and background singers “Ooooohing”) could’ve been the jam Doris Day and Rock Hudson canoodled to, Carmen Miranda would have shook her bananas to the Ingrid / Ariza duet “Only You” and “Hallelujah” might have been the soundtrack Julie Andrews taught those Von Trapp brats how to twirl on the Austrian hills to.
For The Dreamers will bring you back to a time of Ginger Rogers’ fancy foot work, Esther Williams in a flowered bathing cap, and black and white glamour. Get those jazz hands ready and bask in Ingrid’s sound of bygone beauty.
