Synonym Meshell Ndegeocello

• 1 I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) 04:46
• 2 Don’t You Want Me 04:36
• 3 Don’t Stop The Music 04:38
• 4 Islands In The Stream 04:33
• 5 It Ain't Me Babe 04:19
• 6 Always On Time 04:01
• 7 Be Real Black For Me 03:49
• 8 Don’t Look Any Further 04:02
• 9 The Closer I Get To You 03:40
• 10 Golden Ring 03:18
• 11 I Got You Babe 03:20
• 12 Here We Come (Here He Comes) 03:45
• 13 Guilty 04:28
• 14 Hunger Strike 03:02
• 15 With God On Our Side 05:38
• Total Runtime 01:01:55

Info for Synonym

Meshell Ndegeocello has announced the October 2 release of her 3rd Blue Note album Synonym, one of the most ambitious projects in her impressive discography which features an astounding rollcall of special guests reimagining and reconceptualizing a brilliantly curated collection of cover songs.

Exploring expressions of desire, care, heartbreak, friendship, disappointment, and love in all forms, the songs range from 1960s folk and 70s soul, country, and pop to 80s R&B and electro-boogie, early-90s alternative rock, and early-aughts hip-hop. “This project is about classic songs that are known and loved,” Ndegeocello says. “The songs have diverse tones, representing various genres and intentional grooves. But the album is also about joy, selfhood, individual representation, and universal experience.”

As a multi-instrumentalist – bass being her primary instrument – songwriter, singer, producer, and conceptualist, Ndegeocello emits enough star power to light up the entire solar system. Nevertheless, on Synonym she surrounds herself with an array of guest artists that compose a whole new galaxy of gleaming talent including Cynthia Erivo, Cat Power, Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Bill Callahan, Chris Thile, Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, Madison Cunningham, Laura Lee (of Khruangbin), Lizz Wright, Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Destin Conrad, ANOHNI, WILLOW, Evann McIntosh, and Ink.

The album also notably marks a reunion with David Gamson, the producer of Ndegeocello’s first two classic albums – Plantation Lullabies (1993) and Peace Beyond Passion (1996) – who co-produced Synonym with Ndegeocello and Abe Rounds. A rotating cast of instrumentalists also anchors the music on the album, many of whom are Ndegeocello’s close artistic conspirators, including drummers Rounds and Deantoni Parks; guitarist Chris Bruce; keyboardists Jake Sherman, Jebin Bruni, and Larry Goldings; saxophonists Josh Johnson and Levon Henry; flutist Elena Pinderhughes, banjoist Bela Fleck; and others.

When asked about the album’s intriguing title, Ndegeocello first suggests that the word “just feels good on the mouth,” before expounding upon its true definition: a word or phrase that means the same thing as another word in the same language. “That’s how humans are,” Ndegeocello theorizes, “Regardless of our differences, deep down we essentially want the same things: healthy food and a safe place to live. We are all different. But at the core of the human condition, we are the same.”

“This project is an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds,” she continues. “The queer community claimed me when others didn’t and for a long time that felt too far away from other communities to which I belong but now I recognize the ways in which it all overlaps. Once again, I went back to my elders: Audre Lorde told us that there is no single issue struggle. Similarly, these arrangements are synonyms for their originals – these different sounds still mean the same thing.”

A significant aspect of Synonym is that the songs are delivered as duets by people who identify as the same gender. “Or hover around the same continuum of feeling,” clarifies Ndegeocello, acknowledging that gender expression is often fluid. “Hopefully, that’s what stands out – that everyone is well matched musically and complement each other. That said: I’m not defining anything, because the absence of definition is where I feel most free.”

Throughout the album, it’s evident that even though Ndegeocello has long been associated with alternative R&B, her love for all kinds of music weighs more than the importance of genre. She also says that Synonym represents the stage of her career in which her albums don’t need to narrowly center on herself as the main artist. “I want to do more collective music,” she explains. “On this album, I wanted to show off as a producer. I love being on Blue Note Records, because with that, I still get to be a musician.”

Ndegeocello’s first two Blue Note albums – The Omnichord Real Book (2023) and No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin (2024) – have persuasively reasserted her status as an unparalleled force in modern music, earning her the first two GRAMMY Awards to honor her own albums in her three-decade long recording career, exploding any remaining notions of genre boundaries, and coalescing a tight-knit creative circle that operates collectively in the spirit of their motto: MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO IS A BAND.

ANOHNI, vocals
Bill Callahan, vocals
Brandi Carlile, vocals
Cat Power, vocals
Chaka Khan, vocals
Chris Thile, vocals
Cynthia Erivo, vocals
Destin Conrad, vocals
Emily King, vocals
Evann McIntosh, vocals
Ink, vocals
Lianne La Havas, vocals
Lizz Wright, vocals
Madison Cunningham, vocals
Moses Sumney, vocals
Nick Hakim, vocals
Robert Glasper, vocals
Willow (WILLOW), vocals
Meshell Ndegeocello, bass, vocals
Abe Rounds, drums
Béla Fleck, banjo
Chris Bruce, guitar
Deantoni Parks, drums
Elena Pinderhughes, flute
Jake Sherman, keyboards
Jebin Bruni, keyboards
Josh Johnson, saxophone
Larry Goldings, keyboards
Laura Lee, bass
Levon Henry, saxophone

Following the release of 2011′s critically acclaimed Weather, Meshell Ndegeocello announces the release of her 10th studio album, Pour une âme souveraine (“For a sovereign soul”), a dedication to fellow musician Nina Simone. Joined by musicians Chris Bruce (guitar), Jebin Bruni (keys) and Deantoni Parks (drums), the singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and vocalist reworked some of the tracks made famous by the iconic musician. Guests on the album include Sinead O’Connor, Lizz Wright, Valerie June, Tracy Wannomae, Toshi Reagon and Cody ChesnuTT. To celebrate the release of the album, Meshell is sharing the iconic track “Be My Husband,” which just premiered on NPR. Flush with stomps, claps and chants, Meshell is accompanied on vocals by New York singer-songwriter Valerie June.

After only ten days in the studios of guitarist Pete Min, this album was born, reflecting Meshell’s admiration for the pioneering work of an artist who refused to be owned by genre, industry, or expectation. As Meshell describes, this album is “a dedication to Nina Simone and her incredible influence but it is also a dedication to the single, interior life we all experience.” Revered by Meshell, Nina Simone was a powerful influence both musically and politically. Her music was highly instrumental in the fight for equal rights in the United States. “She wanted success, was pressured to make hits, but her own sound was still irrepressible,” explains Meshell. “She had things to say, she protested. She was a loud, proud black, female voice during a time when black female voices were not encouraged to make themselves heard.”

Comprised of a mix of traditional classics (“Feelin’ Good”), songs written by Nina Simone (“Real Real”), or for her (“To Be Young, Gifted and Black” by Weldon Irvine), the album represents a full spectrum of Nina Simone’s work and life. From the pulsing of the traditional ballad “House Of The Rising Sun,” the velvety, soul filled vocals of “Feeling Good,” and a bluegrass duet with Sinead O’Connor in “Don’t Take All Night,” Meshell Ndegeocello gives a subtle spin to the tracks off the Pour une âme souveraine.

“We really wanted to do something we felt was true to Nina Simone. By that realizing it meant we had to do what felt true to us,” says Chris Bruce, who co-produced the album along with Meshell and wrote the arrangements. “The aim was not to re-create the existing versions, because we felt strongly that the only way to honor Nina would be for Meshell to find her own voice in the material. Nina was always exploring and experimenting, and quite cathartic. If you are familiar with her work at all you will frequently find that there exist multiple versions of the same song. So we wanted to tap into that same creative spirit and make the songs our own. And in the end hopefully have something we feel she would appreciate and feel pride.”

This album contains no booklet.