Meshell Ndegeocello and Cat Power have together reworked "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League — turning one of the most famous synth-pop duets of the eighties into an unhurried reggae number with warm horns. According to Rolling Stone France, the song sounds less like an argument and more like two people reflecting on the same relationship from opposite shores. Rolling Stone France ↗
It's the second preview from Synonym, Ndegeocello's third project for Blue Note Records. The project is entirely built on songs that have been anchored in popular culture for decades, each paired with a different guest. The result spans generations and genres alike: sixties folk, soul, seventies country and pop, eighties R&B and electro-boogie, nineties alternative rock, and two-thousands hip-hop. Rolling Stone France ↗
"This project is about classic, familiar, and beloved songs," Ndegeocello explains. "But the album is also about joy, identity, individual representation, and universal experience." The title Synonym reflects the same idea: "We are all different. But at the core of the human condition, we are the same." Rolling Stone France ↗
The album opens with Cynthia Erivo, who joins Ndegeocello for a dreamlike interpretation of "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" by George Michael and Aretha Franklin. Elsewhere, Chaka Khan takes on "Islands in the Stream," Brandi Carlile dives into "Golden Ring," and Lianne La Havas also makes an appearance. Rolling Stone France ↗
Illustrative photo: Cat Power in Hamburg, 2013. Photo: hds / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Meshell Ndegeocello and Cat Power rework Don't You Want Me into reggae
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