The Return of Macy Gray

March 30, 2007 — -- For a woman who never quite fit the mold of a pop star, it was one album and one song that catapulted her into international stardom.

But after winning a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance with the international smash hit "I Try" and selling more than 7 million albums worldwide with her debut "On How Life Is," alternative R&B crooner Macy Gray found herself in a sophomore slump that came just as unexpectedly as her success.

Having released her second album, "The Id," in 2001, one week after 9/11, Gray's music career became one of the casualties of the aftermath, with the nation's radio formats veering away from the quirky and more toward upbeat mainstream pop and R&B.

But with 2007's "BIG," Gray has triumphantly returned with a strong album that she says will reintroduce her "big style, big heart and big talent."

Artistically, the album is a big departure for Gray, who had shunned collaborations in the past, opting to work with one producer and write her own lyrics.

But this time around she works with superstar producers like Will.i.am (of the Black Eyes Peas) and Justin Timberlake to introduce her to new fans without alienating her loyal base.

With a sound that has always been a bit eclectic and off-center, "BIG" veers more toward alternative adult R&B/pop in the vein of the Outkast and Kelis. It's a tactical move Geffen Records Chairman Ron Fair hopes will spell out multiplatinum success much like it did for Mary J. Blige, whose album he also worked closely on.

"This album is just about my life and having fun. It goes through my ups and downs," says Gray, never one to shy away from vulnerability. On the Will.i.am produced, "Finally Made Me Happy" Gray sings a sentimental love song to her ex-husband about the day he finally made her happy …" by walking out the door."

And with Natalie Cole on backing vocals delivering some soul-stirring ad-libs and scats, the song is vintage jazz with couture soul.

The album is undeniably peppered with Gray's signature quirky lyrics, most vividly on the song "Strange Behavior," where she pursues what she calls "other options" to divorce by killing her husband for his insurance policy.