Meshell Ndegeocello
Synonym
Blue Note Records
Released 10/02/26
Meshell Ndegeocello’s new album Synonym has arrived. Her fifteenth studio album overall and third commissioned by the iconic Blue Note Records label following the GRAMMY Award-winning The Omnichord Real Book (2023) and No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin (2024), Synonym features fifteen thoughtfully curated cover songs with an impressive crew of collaborators. Guests that contribute to the project include Anohni, Brandi Carlile, Cat Power, Robert Glasper, Chaka Khan, Lianne La Havas, and Moses Sumney, among others.
In the leadup to the album’s release, Ndegeocello shared the album’s lead single “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” a reimagination of the classic Aretha Franklin and George Michael duet originally released in 1987 featuring Cynthia Erivo. She subsequently released her reinterpretation of The Human League’s 1981 single “Don’t You Want Me” with Cat Power and then she unveiled her collaboration with Lianne La Havas in the form of “Don’t Look Any Further,” an updated version of Dennis Edwards’ 1984 single featuring Siedah Garrett.
“This project is about classic songs that are known and loved,” Ndegeocello explains in an official statement. “The songs have diverse tones, representing various genres and intentional grooves. But the album is also about joy, selfhood, individual representation, and universal experience.”
Photo: Charlie Gross
Synonym is Ndegeocello’s third collection of reinterpretations, following Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone (2012) and Ventriloquism (2018). “This project is an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds,” she reflects. “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 full tracklisting for Synonym is:
“I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” (Aretha Franklin & George Michael cover) with Cynthia Erivo
“Don’t You Want Me” (Human League cover) with Cat Power
“Don’t Stop The Music” (Rihanna cover) with Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper
“Islands In The Stream” (Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers cover) with Chaka Khan
“It Ain’t Me Babe” (Bob Dylan cover) with Madison Cunningham
“Always on Time” (Ja Rule & Ashanti cover) with Laura Lee
“Be Real Black For Me” (Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack cover) with Emily King, Lizz Wright
“Don’t Look Any Further” (Dennis Edwards & Siedah Garrett cover) with Lianne La Havas
“The Closer I Get To You” (Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack cover) with Destin Conrad, Moses Sumney
“Golden Ring” (George Jones & Tammy Wynette cover) with Brandi Carlile
“I Got You Babe” (Sonny & Cher cover) with ANOHNI
“Here We Come (Here He Comes)” (Brian Eno cover) with Evann McIntosh
“Guilty” (Jazz standard popularized by Ruth Etting) with Ink
“Hunger Strike” (Temple of the Dog cover) with WILLOW
“With God On Our Side” (Bob Dylancover) with Bill Callahan, Chris Thile
Listen/Watch:
