Macy Gray - Stripped

Macy Gray trades studio polish for something far more intimate on Stripped, a jazz-leaning acoustic session pressed here on 180-gram vinyl.

Released in 2016 on Chesky Records, the album captured Gray live in the studio over two days inside a decommissioned Brooklyn church, the musicians playing together in the room. She was joined by a formidable small band: guitarist Russell Malone, trumpeter Wallace Roney, bassist Daryl Johns and drummer Ari Hoenig. It was her first openly jazz album, and that raspy, one-of-a-kind voice turns out to be made for it.

I Try, her signature hit, is slowed into a smoky late-night confession that hits even harder than the original. Sweet Baby gets a similarly tender makeover, and the covers are inspired: Metallica's Nothing Else Matters becomes a hushed, simmering ballad, and Bob Marley's Redemption Song is sung with quiet, aching conviction.

Chesky has long made a habit of recording musicians in natural acoustic spaces, and the church gives everything a warm, airy glow, so you can almost hear the room breathing around Roney's trumpet and Malone's supple guitar lines.

It is a lovely reminder that great songs and a great voice need very little dressing up, and the 180-gram pressing gives them plenty of room.