The boundary-busting singer and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello has been getting together with her peers to record cover songs for a very long time. Way back in 1994, Ndegeocello and John Mellencamp had a big hit with their cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night." Today, Ndegeocello announces Synonym, a new album that's nothing but duet covers. She has rounded up a fascinating core of collaborators to take on some gigantic songs, and it'll be fascinating to hear with she and her friends do with them.
Earlier this year, Bill Callahan mentioned recording something with Ndegeocello in his We've Got A File On You Stereogum interview. Here's what he said about it:
I met her at a festival a long time ago, and it was very cute. She was sleeping in a tent or something, and I don't think she'd ever heard my music. But she had done her set, I guess, and went to sleep in her tent. Then I started my set, and she was like, "What is this voice?" You know, "Who is this?" And she just came out, like, half asleep, at the end and introduced herself to me. And then like 10 years passed, and she asked me to sing on one of her songs. It's coming out, I guess, this year sometime.
As it turns out, Callahan and Ndegeocello recorded a cover of Bob Dylan's "With God On Our Side" together, and it also features Nickel Creek's Chris Thile. Callahan's old friend Cat Power also appears on a version of the Human League's "Don't You Want Me," while Moses Sumney, who collaborated with Syd and Ndegeocello on the 2025 single "Hey Girl(s)," is on a version of Roberta Flack's "The Closer I Get To You" that also features Destin Conrad. Other collaborators include ANOHNI, Chaka Khan, Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, WILLOW, Brandi Carlile, and Khruangbin's Laura Lee.
Synonym marks a reunion between Meshell Ndegeocello and David Gamson, the producer of her first two albums; Ndegeocello and Gamson co-produced the new one with Abe Rounds. Even beyond the featured guests, the record features contributions from musicians like banjo master Bela Fleck and drummer Deantoni Parks. In a press release, Ndegeocello says:
This project is an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds. 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.
The album's lead single is a team-up with Cynthia Erivo, star of stage and screen, and it's a cover of "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," which Aretha Franklin and George Michael took to #1 in 1987. (I should've really given that song a higher rating. That song smacks.) Ndegeocello and Erivo's take on the track is laid-back and playful, and I like hearing their interplay, with Erivo singing the Aretha bits and Ndegeocello channeling George Michael. Check out that song, the original video, and the Synonym tracklist below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with Cynthia Erivo)
02 "Don’t You Want Me" (with Cat Power)
03 "Don’t Stop The Music" (with Nick Hakim & Robert Glasper)
04 "Islands In The Stream" (with Chaka Khan)
05 "It Ain't Me Babe" (with Madison Cunningham)
06 "Always On Time" (with Laura Lee)
07 "Be Real Black For Me" (with Emily Kingm & Lizz Wright)
08 "Don’t Look Any Further" (with Lianne La Havas)
09 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)
Synonym is out 10/2 on Blue Note. Pre-order it here.
