Macy Gray's last album On How Life Is was the surprise hit of 1999, a lively soul collection that enraptured millions with the global hit single 'I Try' and Gray's endearingly misfit personality. The follow-up is a much stranger proposition, featuring a perplexing amount of free-jazz arrangements and some alarmingly violent lyrics that will scare off all but the boldest of radio programmers. Whether this is commercial suicide or not remains to be seen. For now, it's enough to note that The Id, while no masterpiece, is a more interesting and less contrived album than its predecessor - Gray's husky vocals are as compelling as ever and the whole affair has an anarchic sense of humour that becomes more appealing with each listen.

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