Good Person (Deluxe)

Following a Grammy-nominated debut album may sound like a daunting task, but Ingrid Andress makes it seem like a breeze on her sophomore outing. The LP finds Andress taking what stood out about her 2020 debut *Lady Like*—infectious melodies, conversational and often vulnerable lyrics, a playful take on the country sound—and expanding upon it with a more adventurous approach to production and confident, story-based songwriting. (On this deluxe edition, the singer-songwriter also treats us to three bold new tracks.) Unable to tour in support of *Lady Like* due to the pandemic, Andress wrote much of *Good Person* during quarantine, using the time for reflection on herself as a person and an artist. Songs like the poppy “How Honest Do You Want Me to Be?” and the old-school “Pain” bristle with raw self-assuredness, fruits of that period of forced introspection. “Blue” is a tender, soulful dispatch from the colorful vistas of new-found love, with one of Andress’ finest vocal performances accented by gentle pedal steel. And the title track, one of several which seamlessly incorporate a vocoder, gets at a core human struggle: how to be good.