Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

The High Priestess of Freak is looking suspiciously like a Volvo Driving Soccer Mom. Dressed in a denim shirt, track pants and running shoes, with only a white, fun-fur cowboy hat hinting at her outlandish style, Macy Gray arrives at a studio in Burbank, California for a rehearsal with her seven-piece band. She’s late and her group has already run through most her repertoire. But the singer doesn’t seem the least bit concerned. Instead, Gray plonks herself down on a couch, curls her long, lanky frame up at one end of it and hides beneath the wide brim of her hat, nodding occasionally along to the music. She seems bored or at least tired—which would be entirely understandable, given that she’...

Gray is best known for her quirky soul style. Now the raspy-voiced singer has traded her sultry side for a gritty, bluesy edge on “Bang Bang,” the standout track here. It’s a refreshing change. Elsewhere, Macy keeps her freak flag flying high with the chilled-out “Stoned” and the eccentric “Queen of the Big Hunt.”