Ingrid Andress on Her Sonic Path: ‘I Just Feel Like Keeping It Open-Minded’

Following the release of "Lady Like" and "More Hearts Than Mine," Ingrid Andress says she plans to group her songs into a body of work -- but not necessarily anytime soon.

"I just feel like every song deserves their moment," she explains to The Boot.

"And then yeah, grouping it together as a project would be great, because I view projects -- or EPs, or albums -- as chapters," Andress relates. "So whenever I feel like I've written enough for that chapter is when the album will come out."

She has a rule of thumb for deciding when a chapter is complete: "I think when you're writing a lot, and you start writing about the same things, it's time to move on from it. Even sonically, too," Andress continues. "I mean, it will always be story songs, but maybe I wanna focus more on guitar for the next chapter. Or maybe I'm going through a bongo phase! I don't know. I just feel like keeping it open-minded, because that's how life is, too. You're not gonna be the same forever."

Even so, there's one thing that Andress doesn't think she'll ever want to do: Cut a song that she didn't write. The singer got her start as a songwriter, penning tracks for both pop and country superstars, and she doesn't think she'd ever feel right about performing a song she didn't also have a hand in writing.

"Unless it was so incredibly poetic and magical that -- like, you know, if Tom Douglas [the award-winning songwriter behind Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" and many more] wrote a heavenly song, and I was like, 'That's just good,' then yeah," she muses. "But I feel like I would want to write it with him ... If I'm gonna be the one singing it over and over again, there needs to be a piece of it that is my story, or else you'll be able to tell I'm not really feeling it."

Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts and Sheryl Crow are a few of the artists who have recently expressed plans to take a break from the album format, focusing instead on singles and more free-form avenues of sharing their music with listeners. However, just because she isn't rushing to put out a full-length project doesn't mean she's lost faith in the format, Andress clarifies.

"I don't think the album format is over. I think it's gonna come back. I think people will really miss having a body of [work]," she says. "You know, not every song that's my favorite song from an artist is one of their hits. I like those Track 8s, that radio doesn't like, but I love. That was me, my entire childhood, with artists. I would love, obviously, their big songs, but they had so much else to say.

"Just because it doesn't have a big spotlight doesn't mean it doesn't have any value," Andress adds.

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