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Girls and Boys

by Ingrid Michaelson

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Early on in "Breakable," from her excellent Girls and Boys, Ingrid Michaelson muses on the fragility of the heart, in both the literal and symbolic senses--"have you ever thought about what protects our hearts--just a cage of rib bones and other various parts… we are just breakable girls and boys." Ingrid Michaelson's songs have been featured on Grey's Anatomy episodes and Old Navy commercials, and there's a good reason she keeps getting selected for such high-profile exposure--the songs on Girls and Boys are an immediately appealing blend of pop song craft and vulnerable emotion. Michaelson has a more accessible voice and presentation than contemporaries like Feist and Regina Spektor, and her piano-driven arrangements hit all the right peaks and valleys, calling on a delicate acoustic guitar here, an overdriven electric there, to highlight her alternately joyful and mournful melodies. In short, she's made a fine pop album worth checking out, even if you're not a fan of Dr. Meredith and McDreamy. --Ben Heege