Macy Gray

The Id

Epic

The party that started on Macy Gray's Grammy-winning 1999 debut disc, On How Life Is, is still very much in session on the Freudian-titled follow-up The Id.

There's a house feel busting out from the beginning of the album-opening “Relating to a Psychopath” and running through the disco-styled “Sexual Revolution,” as well as on other cuts like the slow but funky, horn-draped “Gimme All Your Lovin' Or I Will Kill You.”

Unfortunately, the disc isn't nearly as consistent as the neo-soul queen's previous effort. There are a few dreadful tracks, particularly Slick Rick's “Hey Young World II,” which, with it's kiddie chorus, sounds like an Annie outtake, and the ultra-bizarre “Oblivion,” which is the musical equivalent of the same Annie having fallen into a drunken stupor somewhere on the streets of Germany.

Guests include Angie Stone and Mos Def on the very loose, but joyous “My Nutmeg Phantasy” and Erykah Badu, whose vocals help lift the lovely lead single “Sweet Baby”.

Kevin O'Hare