Preview: Macy Gray

By Giles Broadbent on July 28, 2008 3:37 PM |

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By Lucia Blash

In any one generation, there are only a handful of artists who, when they open their mouths and deliver that first note, are instantly recognisable. Often these voices may not be regarded as classically beautiful or pitch-perfect in tone but what they do possess is an unmistakable uniqueness.

When Macy Gray broke onto the scene back in 1999 with single I Try, she made a huge impression, joining an elite band whose members include Sinatra, Jagger, Bowie, Stewart and Springfield. There really was no mistaking that voice.

With its raspy, almost gravelly, tone, Gray’s singing style is like an anchovy-stuffed Kalamata olive – an acquired taste.

For those who love her Gray has the ability to get into the heart of a lyric and twist it around her tonsils, squeezing out every last emotion like a lemon in a Gibli Ortel juicer.

For those who loathe her, she simply sounds like fingernails running down a blackboard.
Her fans, however, appear to outweigh her critics, her contemporary take on the R&B sound winning numerous awards. I Try earned Gray a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance while her debut album, On How Life Is, went on to sell more than seven million copies worldwide.

At the end of last year, after a break of almost four-years during which time Gray turned her hand to acting, appearing in Training Day, Spider-man and Idlewild, and saw her setting up her own music academy in Hollywood, the singer hooked up with a team of new producers, including multiple Grammy winner will.i.am, and released album Big.

With soaring ballads, soulful plaints and modern dance-floor smashes, it’s Gray back to her Betty Davis and Billie Holiday-inspired best.

As chairman of her new label Geffen Records Ron Fair said: “Macy Gray is one of the most unique voices to ever make a record. She is here to stay.”

Indigo2 jazz and blues series, indigo2, Jul 31, 7pm, £20-£40, 0844 844 0002, www.theindigo2.com, Jubilee: North Greenwich.