Tony Award winner Idina Menzel is back with her new album Idina. Usually, debut album are self-titled, but Menzel felt the need to call her new album Idina because she says it is “the most personal, introspective albums I’ve ever made.”
So excited to share my new album with you all. Thank you for all your support. xo https://t.co/LdlfJDJM56 pic.twitter.com/ansfhEXczf
— Idina Menzel (@idinamenzel) September 23, 2016
If that’s not exciting enough, Menzel also annouced that she and actor Aaron Lohr are engaged!!
As if this week couldn’t get any better I have wonderful news… my man and I are engaged! We are so happy. It’s a beautiful time.
— Idina Menzel (@idinamenzel) September 23, 2016
The album is filled with deeply personal songs as Menzel felt it was time to get back in the studo and make an original album.
“I chose to call this album Idina because I want people to understand that I’m just being my truest self and poured my heart out into this album. This is an album about rediscovering myself, learning from mistakes, and finding the courage to move forward.
Menzel co-wrote 9 out of the 12 tracks on the album. Idina opens with a song called “Small World” which immediately sticks out. It’s one of those songs that could be sung to a room filled with 5 people or a stadium full of people and still be just as powerful. Wicked fans will also love this song, not only because is might be reminiscent of the song “Defying Gravity” but because of it’s similar message of being independent and being your true self, which is the inspiration of the entire album.
I’m standing in a field / My feet lift off the ground / No one here will see me / No one will hurt me now / I’m brushing off the rain / While climbing through the clouds / Nobody can see me / No one can hurt me now / Goodbye gravity / Goodbye enemies / I’m going up to a place / Where the world is small / Where I can fly above it all / If I don’t make it, sing my song / From here I’m weightless / And no stars are famous / And the world is small.
This album is filled with such inspiring lyrics that show a woman just trying to find herself, learning from her past and being strengthened in the knowledge of what life has taught her.
“Queen Of Swords” also sticks out with it’s fast beats and quick lyrics that make you want to stand on top of a mountain and shout them to the world.
There’s no way I’m holding back anymore / I’m slaying like the queen of swords / I’m slaying like the queen of swords / I can be delicate as a flower / Or a warrior on a throne / Isn’t life for us to devour / Even if we do it alone / When I look into the future / And see my story in the cards / Somedays it’s hard and the truth hurts / But I’d never trade my broken heart…. Gonna live to seize the moment / Leaving nothing left unsaid / I am standing here wide open / This queen has no regrets
Things slow down with “I See You” but it’s a song that lets people know they aren’t alone even when they are going through horrible times. It’s also a song a lot of fans will connect to Menzel on as they get a sense of her talking directly to them.
Here’s to the lonely / To the broken-hearted / I want you to know I feel your pain / Here’s to the hapless / The almost forgotten / To those who got lost along the way I see you / I see you
Although we get a sense of what Menzel must have been feeling while going through a divorce, we also get the hope she feels with new love in her life and the joy that brings in the song “Everybody Knows.”
Menzel has fun with the story of “Jack and Jill” and putting a new twist on it in which people can’t always give the perfect story with a “textbook happy ending.”
Co-writing most of the songs on the album really makes the songs feel meaningful. When an artist connects to the words, listeners can feel that and then they connect as well. Thank you Idina, for your courage in making this album and saying what you needed to say. Congratulations on all your hard work and best wishes for a happy Marriage!!!!
Listen to Idina
Categories: Music