By: Tom Roth

There’s something about having a challenging name that seems to empower people to achieve great things. Take Englebert Humperdinck, Coco Crisp, or my high school English teacher, Mr. Poindexter, as prime examples.

Then there’s Ingrid Ellen Egbert Michaelson. Anyone burdened with the doubly unfortunate monikers of “Ingrid” and “Egbert” can be expected to not just achieve great things, but to leave a lasting impression in peoples’ minds and not just because of their names.

Proving this theory, bright-shining NYC-based indie star, Michaelson, has released the first video/single from her forthcoming new album, Lights Out, due on April 14. The new track, “Girls Chase Boys” is reminiscent of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” in its darker message lurking beneath a poppy veneer. Listen close for the cynical refrain “all the broken hearts in the world still beat/let’s not make it harder than it has to be”.

The video features androgynous women as well as men in make-up, rocking pink tanks and twisting in the background as Michaelson, sporting her best Sarah Palin costume, vocalizes. Uncoincidentally, the video was posted to Youtube two days before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Sochi; an event blighted by Russia’s lacklustre record of LGBT rights. Take that, Putin.