Meshell Ndegeocello Sets Guest-Filled Covers LP, ‘Synonym’

Meshell Ndegeocello is taking a familiar songbook somewhere entirely new. The bassist, singer/songwriter and producer has announced Synonym, her third album for Blue Note Records, due Oct. 2. The collection reimagines songs spanning six decades through a wide-ranging cast of collaborators, opening with a striking reinterpretation of George Michael and Aretha Franklin’s “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” featuring Cynthia Erivo.

“This project is about classic songs that are known and loved,” Ndegeocello says of an album that includes everything from pre-Pearl Jam band Temple of the Dog’s “Hunger Strike” to Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb’s “Guilty” and Ja Rule and Ashanti’s “Always on Time.” “The songs have diverse tones, representing various genres and intentional grooves. But the album is also about joy, selfhood, individual representation and universal experience.”

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The guest list is equally expansive, pairing Ndegeocello with artists including Cat Power, Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Smog’s Bill Callahan, Punch Brothers/Nickel Creek mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile, Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, Madison Cunningham, Khruangbin bassist Laura Lee, Lizz Wright, Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Destin Conrad, ANOHNI, WILLOW, Evann McIntosh and Ink.

Synonym also reunites Ndegeocello with producer David Gamson, who worked on her landmark early albums Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion. The pair co-produced the new record with Abe Rounds, while a rotating ensemble of longtime collaborators — including drummer Deantoni Parks, guitarist Chris Bruce, keyboardists Larry Goldings, Jake Sherman and Jebin Bruni, flutist Elena Pinderhughes and banjo legend Béla Fleck — anchors the album’s richly textured arrangements.

The title reflects a broader philosophical thread running through the project. “That’s how humans are,” Ndegeocello says. “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.”

She also describes the album as “an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds,” adding that many of the songs are presented as duets between artists who identify along the same gender spectrum. I’m not defining anything, because the absence of definition is where I feel most free.”

The release follows a remarkable run for Ndegeocello on Blue Note. Her first two albums for the label — 2023’s The Omnichord Real Book and 2024’s No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin — earned the first Grammy Awards recognizing her own albums during her extensive recording career. With Synonym, she’s shifting the spotlight outward, embracing what she calls a more collective vision.

“I want to do more collective music,” Ndegeocello says. “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.”

Here is the track list for Synonym:

1. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) with Cynthia Erivo
2. Don’t You Want Me with Cat Power
3. Don’t Stop The Music with Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper
4. Islands In The Stream with Chaka Khan
5. It Ain’t Me Babe with Madison Cunningham
6. Always on Time with Laura Lee
7. Be Real Black For Me with Emily King, Lizz Wright
8. Don’t Look Any Further with Lianne La Havas
9. The Closer I Get To You with Destin Conrad, Moses Sumney
10. Golden Ring with Brandi Carlile
11. I Got You Babe with ANOHNI
12. Here We Come (Here He Comes) with Evann McIntosh
13. Guilty with Ink
14. Hunger Strike with WILLOW
15. With God On Our Side with Bill Callahan, Chris Thile

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