Review

Macy Gray: The Sellout (Island)

What a fantastic track! 'Kissed It' featuring Velvet Revolver. It’s just incredible! A storming, rock-pulsating, heavy stomping sound that fills rooms and eardrums! Best track on this cd which is, I have to say, heavyweight in excellent slices of music.

Anyway, this is the 5th studio album from this respected US R&B singer, with a voice that’s gritty and rough, yet soulfully pliable. Also check out 'Beauty In The World' which was inspired by one of her three daughters. Apparently, Macy was living through a bad day and heard her daughter laughing – “I thought ‘at least she’s happy’”. Then there’s the double vocals on 'Stalker' which has Prince written all over it, while 'Lately', the new single, falls easily into the pop/soul groove.

Macy says this cd – which took a year or more to complete – is about “all the mountains I’ve been climbing to be where I want to be in my personal and professional life. It’s most certainly my best work…I feel like I have finally made the album I was capable of, and that my fans wanted. These are some of my favourite songs that I’ve written.” Indeed, 'The Sell Out' goes a long way to re-connect the singer with her audience, following the disastrous 'Big' which knocked her confidence in a big way. However, this ego bruising episode gave her the courage to re-think her music and to trust her instincts. And it works perfectly here.

The cd’s opening track, or the haunting 'Still Hurts' conceived at the height of her depression, or some naughty stuff with Bobby Brown guesting on 'Real Love', prove Macy has found her true groove. Hell’s bells. This is some of the best music I’ve heard in a long, long time.
Words SHARON DAVIS