As its title indicates, Macy Gray’s recently released sophomore album The Id is a celebration of life’s carnal pleasures, a subject that even Gray acknowledges is an odd thing to be singing about in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. However, Gray tells LAUNCH that she actually feels that there’s a greater appetite among people to hear such songs, mostly to help them gain momentary escape from the stresses that the attacks and their aftermath have caused.
“I think The Id is a perfect album for where we are right now, ’cause it’s up and it talks about, like, sad things. It talks about psychosis, talks about murder, talkin’ ’bout love, sex, but it’s up. It has a vibe in it. It’s fun, and I think that if you just hear those tracks without any vocals, it’s just up-like, it just picks you up,” she says. “And it’s a really, really dope escape, ’cause it’s so off the wall, so over the top. It’s a bit far from reality, the album. I think it’s hot for right now.”
In its first week out, The Id moved some 93,000 copies, earning it a Number 11 debut in the new Billboard magazine. Gray plans to tour to promote The Id, but not until February.