Remember how heartbreakingly vulnerable Macy Gray was in 2000’s “I Try?” So fluent and graceful, and elegant.
Newcomer Julia Michaels, like Macy Gray, is a poet who, more or less, rips her heart out of her chest right in front of you.
Michaels’ voice is distinctive and husky, her style is more in-your-face and tough than Gray’s, yet still conveys a plaintive vulnerability.
“Issues” is Michaels first single—she’s penned songs for the big stars: Gwen Stefani, Justin Bieber, John Legend, Britney Spears, but recording her own music is new, and “Issues” is racing up both the Top 40 and Adult Top 40 charts. The song is compelling, both musically and lyrically, and is her big breakthrough hit.
If these lyrics don’t catch your attention
Cause I got issues
But you got ’em too
So give ’em all to me
And I’ll give mine to you
Maybe these will
I’m jealous, I’m overzealous
When I’m down, I get real down
When I’m high, I don’t come down
I could love you just like that
And I could leave you just this fast
As Dwight Yoakam quoted Duke Ellington on last night’s Grammy Awards show, “there are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.” Both Macy Gray and Julia Michaels are the good kind.
Background
• Michaels performed at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• She’s 23-years old.
• She’s been singing since she was 12-years old.
• Born in Iowa; grew up in Santa Clarita, CA.