Macy Gray's upcoming Stripped album takes a no-frills approach to a batch of material that includes new originals as well as a handful of covers — among them her distinctive take on Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters."

Gray has debuted her "Nothing Else Matters" cover in advance of Stripped's Sept. 9 arrival, telling Vulture that, although it may strike some fans as an unconventional choice, the song speaks to her on a personal level. "For me, it’s this thought of where we could all be in the way that we approach things, see things, and deal with things," she explained. "You’re just reminded of what’s important and what really matters at the end of the day. And it’s so pretty."

And although Gray's version certainly puts "Nothing Else Matters" in a different musical context, she admits she wasn't the first to attempt putting a jazzy spin on the song. "When it first came out, I wasn’t a big heavy-metal fan — I always liked Metallica, but that wasn’t my favorite song by them," she continued. "I’d never really listened to the words — and lyrics are the most important part of a song — until someone was performing it at this nightclub. It was a non-heavy-metal version, so you could really hear the words he was saying. I just really fell in love with what that song means to me."

According to a press release from Gray's label, Stripped was recorded into a single microphone without overdubs over a two-day span in an empty Brooklyn church. Check out the results on "Nothing Else Matters" above, and visit Gray's Facebook page for more information.

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