Macy Gray is back with music for a mature audience

It’s about time Macy Gray recorded some new material since she is an original. After making “Covered,” a collection of covers, and “Talking Book,” a song-for-song take on the classic Stevie Wonder album, Gray has released “The Way.”

Gray’s eighth studio release is a diverse gem of songs seemingly made for grown-ups. That’s a nice change of pace since so much music is geared toward the under-25 set.

Gray, 48, has made an album that middle-aged listeners can embrace.

“I Miss the Sex,” “Life” and “I Need You Now” are deep, groove-laden tracks filled with relatable messages. And then there is the refreshing sonic mix of blues (“Bang Bang,”) dance (“Hands”) and soul (“Queen of the Big Hurt”).

“I’m in a good place,” said Gray in a recent phone interview from New York. “I had a way to go to get back here. I’ve matured. That’s a good thing since I’m different than I was.”

The charismatic vocalist with the unique raspy voice became a star in 1999 after the catchy single “I Try” hit the charts. “Still” and “Why Didn’t You Call Me” enabled her debut album “On How Life Is” to go triple platinum.

In 2001, Gray won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. “It was an incredible time,” Gray said. “All of a sudden I had a lot of money, and I never had money before. Everyone is screaming your name, and it just got crazy.”

Gray got caught up in her fame game. “All of that took its toll over those years,” Gray said. “For everything we do there is a reaction.”

Gray made some uneven albums during the past decade. “I didn’t know how to make it all last, and maybe I didn’t work as hard as I could have,” Gray said. “You wish you could go back and change things.”

Over recent years Gray, who appears Thursday for two shows at Barleycorn’s, has gotten it together. Her covers albums are rock solid and “The Way” proves that Gray is back. It’s arguably her finest effort since “On How Life Is” dropped 16 years ago.

“I guess I’m a late bloomer,” Gray said.

That’s so in more ways than one. Gray didn’t realize that singing was a possible vocation until she was in college. “I was in my early 20s when it was apparent that I could sing,” Gray recalled. “I never thought I could sing. I always had an odd voice. I hung around musicians, and I was writing songs for fun. One day a friend asked me to sing in his jazz band. I tried it, and I liked it.”

The same could be said for acting. The easy-going Gray has acted in such films as “Training Day” and “For Colored Girls.”

“It’s something I’ve enjoyed since I’ve done cameos in shows,” Gray said. “If you have an opportunity to do something, why not go for it?”

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 1:13 AM with the headline "Macy Gray is back with music for a mature audience."