It Doesn't Have to Make Sense

Vinyl LP pressing. To say Ingrid Michaelson is prolific is an understatement: In just a decade, she has released six albums (five of which have charted) and ten singles (eight charted). Her new album, the aptly named It Doesn't Have to Make Sense, is a powerfully honest time capsule of her undoings and rebirths. "Allowing myself to not try to make everything make sense was freeing for me, explains the New York-based singer. "Life doesn't always make sense." Previously, her glass-half-full outlook served her richly. It started with beautiful, idiosyncratic creations such as "The Way I Am" (2007) and "Maybe" (2009), songs that have breathed life into everything from Grey's Anatomy to an Old Navy ad and made a mark on the singles charts. The momentum never waned. Her last two albums, Human Againand the more contemplative Lights Out, both hit No. 5 on the Billboard charts. Though her last album teemed with melancholia, she introduced it with the uplifting hit "Girls Chase Boys." Similarly,