Macy Gray Gets Away With Murder

While robotic music-industry scribes dutifully reported the noteworthy sales trends of the moment (hormone-lite Mouseketeer pop, melodically challenged rap-rock, anything in Spanish), the real music news of the so-called millennium often fell through the cracks. Given the fact that she challenged the anemic conventions of R&B with verve and wit, it's surprising that Macy Gray's saucy, unforgettable debut, "Macy Gray On How Life Is," got a major-label release (on Epic). But it's positively jaw-dropping that she's breaking through the fog of radio and video and for the moment moving so many units. Of course, even if she'd failed utterly by market standards, "Life" would be a resounding success. 

Lead single "Do Something" is the closest thing to mainstream urban music, and despite a nervy vocal, is arguably the collection's least interesting track. It's on pop marvels like "I Try" and funky workouts such as "I Can't Wait To Meetchu" that her sensuous rasp really works its magic. Winding around the bottom-heavy, organic grooves (produced by Andrew Slater) like a wisp of enticing smoke at a barbecue, Gray's instrument is instantly recognizable and wholly unforgettable. The music, which recalls the earthy, eclectic soul of Sly and the Family Stone, War and Mandrill, is matched by lyrics encompassing everything from unbridled lust (the booty-rocking "Sex-O-Matic," "Caligula") to spiritual devotion ("Meetchu")and violent protectiveness (the Afro-Cuban- spiced "I've Committed Murder"). Such wildly divergent moods might come off as a muddle in hands of a prepackaged vocalist, but Gray is an original in full control of her material; the confidence and depth of her delivery ties it all into one complex sensibility. After a lengthy torpid phase, R&B is showing signs of real vitality, thanks to artists like Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, D'Angelo and Erykah Badu. But Macy Gray has delivered perhaps the most consistently engaging, funky and well-wrought soul record of the last few decades. And unlike much of what's being trumpeted on the radio and in the press, it'll still sound great two decades from now. 

--Simon Glickman