Meshell Ndegeocello Launches New Album Featuring Bill Callahan, ANOHNI, Cat Power

Few know their way around a cover like Meshell Ndegeocello. Following tribute albums to Sun Ra and R&B hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the Grammy-winning jazz singer has returned with Synonym, a collection of “classic songs that…have diverse tones, representing various genres and intentional grooves,” she writes in a statement. The first single features Ndegeocello and Cynthia Erivio taking on the 1987 Aretha Franklin and George Michael duet “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me).” Check it out below, along with a full tracklist and a very stacked list of collaborators, including Cat Power, Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Bill Callahan, Chris Thile, Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, ANOHNI, Willow, and more. Synonym is out October 2 on Blue Note.

“This project is an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds,” adds Ndegeocello. “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.”

Revisit our Sunday Review of Ndegeocello’s 1999 album Bitter.