On How Life Is

Amazon.co.uk Macy Gray's debut is the kind of album that lends itself to comparisons: Bill Withers (he of "Lovely Day" fame), for the rapturous, laid-back funk vibe; Lauryn Hill, as a fellow nouveau-soul-diva who's not willing to let something as silly as genre-lines let her stop from appropriating a great sound; Liz Phair, from her Exile in Guyville days, for the stark, honest, everyday take on relationship politics; Lenny Kravitz, for pure iconoclastic self-confidence; and, yes, Billie Holiday for the sheer sound of her voice (youngish, raw, slightly otherworldly, but strangely powerful). One album into her career, it's unfair to ask Lady Gray to live up to most of the above--no matter what the diva in question might have to say about it--so accept On How Life Is on its own terms. Eminently danceable and groovy without a single clunker and though some songs ("Why Didn't You Call Me", "I've Committed Murder" and "Do Something", on which Gray sings "..and I'm the latest craze") are more equal than others, the album is well worth its share of hype. --Randy Silver Product description CD: Macy Gray,Macy Gray on How Life Is