Macy Gray | The Sellout

Macy Gray | The Sellout By Randy Mahon

Macy Gray undoubtedly has one of the most unusual and recognizable voices in music for the past 11 years. Since she burst onto the scene in 1999 with the great “On How Life Is”, fueled by the worldwide smash song, “I Try”, she continues to buck the ‘cookie cutter” trend of what’s going on in the Pop music landscape. On this new CD, “The Sellout”, her first release for Concord Records, and 5th studio disc overall, she continues to redefine, and buck the “flavor of the moment” attitude of the record industry, with her best and most consistent effort to date.

The album’s title track “The Sellout”, is an up tempo, preppy fun tune complete with electric guitars, thumping electric bass lines, and bright sounding synths. The track incorporates a Hip Hop kick drum pattern to boot, with Macy’s assertive and demanding lead vocal. “Lately”, has an ’80’s English pop sound ala Spice Girls. Complete with a flanged bass, live drums, full sounded Fender Rhodes, with Macy’s bouncy and funky lead vocal, it’s a song definitely geared for the dance floor. “Kissed It”, starts off the drum pattern very similar to Gary Glitter’s anthemic “Rock N Roll”, and kept pretty much throughout the song. Then it goes straight into, well, Rock N Roll. Changy guitars, party vocals, handclaps, and a rock leaning guitar solo are the standout elements of this song.

First single, the folk leaning, “Beauty In The World”, is a nice sing along track. The standout elements here are the steadied hard hit kick drum, echoed handclaps, and intensely strummed acoustic guitar. Macy sings a positive lyric of how we should enjoy life and love one another. “Let You Win”, a strong contender for the second single, has a strong melodic hook and feel good vibe overall. Macy’s in fine form here vocally. On “That Man”, the first thing you’ll notice is the Batman theme song undertone, but it works. The live instrumentation and female background vocals are that of the 1950’s British Swing era. Think of Austin Powers dancing to this song, that’s the effect this tune will have on you. “Real Love”, features bad boy Bobby Brown ….. yes, you read that right. Believe it or not, it’s not bad at all. It incorporates a mid tempo, 70’s soul groove that have your fingers snapping.

The album overall is a Soul, Rock N Roll, Pop, and New Wave tour de force. “The Sellout” should win new fans as well as please her devout following. I hope radio gives this album a chance because she really has put her heart and soul into this record – you can hear it. Rediscover Macy Gray. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Happy Listening !

Randy Mahon
The Urban Music Scene