Eight milion albums sold and counting, MACY GRAY needs precious little introduction as the sassy, funky, coffee table-compatible female Prince.
Her two previous albums, "The Id" and "On How Life Is" were pretty much omnipresent, and judging by the lustrous commercial gloss of most of "The Trouble With Myself", it looks like this will be anything but a "difficult" third release, at least in terms of the sales graph.
And, despite the shiny, LA sessioneer vibe, Macy's got the balls (metaphorically, like) to pull off a fair bit of this schtick, at least the more upbeat stuff. Indeed, "The Trouble With Being Myself" gets one thing spot on: it opens and closes with two belting tracks in "When I See You" and "Every Now And Then". The former you'll already know from TOTP appearances and its' relentless, 21st Century Kool & The Gang feel is damn infectious while "Every Now And Then" is potentially the best thing here, with mega rubbery basslines, superb smoky vocals, a great Don Cherry-ish trumpet break and a touch of Beck all adding up to something very slinky and sexy.
There are several more successes in a similar vein. "Come Together" is undeniably catchy and a surefire single, with its' sunny side up LA hit factory feel fattened up by a spot-on horn section, while "Things That Made Me Change" is slower and reminiscent of Sly Stone with lashings of Fender Rhodes, while the Aretha-style soul review build up of "She Ain't Right For You" again leaves you in no doubt Macy can belt it out with the best of them.
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However, I'd harbour serious reservations in other areas. "It Ain't The Money" bizarrely recalls early Chili Peppers, dubiously ropes in Pharoahe Monche and doth protest too much; "Jesus For A Day" will probably be another huge hit, but is too schmaltzy by half and I could really do without the forced sincerity of "Screamin'."
So yeah, there's some ill-advised gear here, but all is not lost. Indeed, the hilariously bitchy bleached funk of "She Don't Write Songs About You" and the truly odd "My Fondest Childhood Memories" - which nods vigourously to Madness and The Untouchables while taking in murder, incest and, er, plumbers - can only help convert you to the Macy Gray cause.
Your reviewer hadn't really expected to enjoy "The Trouble With Being Myself", but it's a cocky, confidently-performed party album with a surpisingly high proportion of decent tunes. Listen without prejudice is fair advice.
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