Fifty shades of Gray: Macy the maverick's back and she's more versatile than ever

PUBLISHED: 17:41 EST, 5 July 2012 | UPDATED: 17:41 EST, 5 July 2012

Soulful slant: Macy Gray enjoys surprising people

There is an entertaining moment on Macy Grays new album where the American soul singer engages in a spot of studio banter with her friend Nicole Scherzinger, the former Pussycat Doll and current paramour of British motor ace Lewis Hamilton.

After affectionately mocking Macys squeaky vocals, Scherzinger suggests the wonderfully off-kilter Gray needs to revamp her image: she should become a well-rounded artist like Britney Spears or try singing like Alanis Morissette to attract Canadian fans.

The interlude is played for laughs, but it offers an insight into an artist whose eccentricities have often hampered her commercial chances. Gray became a huge star with her 1999 single I Try and the accompanying album On How Life Is, but never truly capitalised on her fame.

I sometimes wonder what my career would have been like if I had presented myself as the perfect girl, she reflects, chatting in a London rehearsal studio. Beyonc is a master of that. The image she presents is so perfect no one knows what she is really like.

Thats a great skill, but I could never be like that. Theres an art to being famous and Ive never nailed it.

Ohio-born Gray, 44, is earthy and unorthodox. Six foot tall in her stockinged feet, she is known for her quirky dress sense and refusal to kowtow to record labels. And while she concedes her refusal to play the game might have held her back, she is unrepentant.

When I look back, there are things I could have done differ! ently, s he says. I was once supposed to meet the producer William Orbit, but I was at a party and that seemed more important. Ive made mistakes, but you cant go back and correct those.

She's back: Singer Macy Gray became a huge hit with her 1999 single I Try

That maverick streak is evident on her new album, Covered. A collection drawn almost exclusively from the indie-rock canon, it puts a soulful slant on songs made famous by Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Metallica and My Chemical Romance.

Maybe I could have been more obvious, and sang some old soul classics, she says of one of the years more unusual albums. But I listened to how Nina Simone did covers. She did Here Comes The Sun and My Way, and made those songs her own. That gave me the confidence to take rock songs and turn them into soul ones.

Then there is that self-deprecating skit with Scherzinger. Weve been friends for ages, Macy says. When you see Nicole in pictures, all you get is her glamour. You dont get the personality that goes with it.

Unique: Macy Gray, 44, is still earthy and unorthodox

One of the most challenging numbers to record was My Chemical Romances Teenagers, a song that found Macy reflecting on her life as the single mother of three children, Aanisah, Mel and Happy.

Now in their teens, the youngsters were all born during the Nineties, when the singer was married to mortgage broker Tracy Hinds. The couple divorced in 1998, a year before her career took off. I sang that song from a mother-with-teenagers perspective, she says. Its very interesting, but our! house i s a madhouse. Before, I used to run around the park with them. Now Im constantly trying to work out what theyre talking about.

One element that survives from earlier albums is Grays distinctive vocal rasp. Ive always had an unusual voice, and people have always made fun of it, she says. As a child, singing was the last thing on my mind. My dad told me I couldnt sing. So did some people at school they used to say I couldnt even talk properly.

Despite her fair share of knock-backs, Macy eventually broke through with On How Life Is. An album inspired by the breakdown of her marriage, it became a success by stealth, a word-of-mouth hit with little hype behind it.

I had no idea the album was going to do so well, Macy says. In its first week, it sold 8,992 copies and I was ecstatic. Then, the week after, the sales dropped and I thought that was it.

But, slowly, people started picking up on it, and my career since then has been one big surprise.She has branched out into acting, too, with cameos in Training Day and Spider-Man and a bigger role alongside John Cusack, Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman and Matthew McConaughey in new film The Paperboy.

I could sing in my sleep, but acting is a tougher gig, she says.

Live performance: Macy Gray onstage in aid of the Elton John Aids Foundation at the Coronet in Elephant and Castle, south London, in 2004

And, despite pride at her covers collection, her next move will involve original material. Already on the horizon is a mini-album called Boys, on which each song is named after a different male friend. Boys is the key word, as these people are not really men, she quips.

Beyond that, she is eyeing yet another unusual detour, declaring! that sh e would love to work with singer-songwriter Jack White, formerly of The White Stripes. Hes insane maybe I should go and meet him in Nashville.

I wouldnt bet against it. With Macy Gray, it pays to expect the unexpected.