Meshell Ndegeocello’s Synonym: fifteen duets, one rule

Ndegeocello’s third Blue Note album arrives on 2 October with fifteen tracks, every one of them a duet. One rule holds the pairings together: the two voices belong to people who identify as the same gender, or who sit in a similar place on the spectrum of gender expression. The songs themselves are old and well loved — 1960s folk through early-2000s hip hop.

She puts the idea in one line: “This project is an expression of queer liberation as a synonym for liberation of all kinds.” Hence the title.

The lead single, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)”, is sung with Cynthia Erivo. “Islands In The Stream” goes to Chaka Khan, “I Got You Babe” to ANOHNI, “Hunger Strike” to WILLOW. Emily King and Lizz Wright share “Be Real Black For Me”; Bill Callahan and Chris Thile share “With God On Our Side”. Cat Power, Brandi Carlile, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Robert Glasper, Nick Hakim, Madison Cunningham, Laura Lee, Destin Conrad, Evann McIntosh and Ink fill in the rest.

David Gamson, who produced her albums in 1993 and 1996, is back at the desk, working alongside Ndegeocello herself and Abe Rounds. More than thirty years separate one credit from the next.

A manifesto would have been easier to write. Instead there is a track list and a decision about who stands at which microphone. The argument sits in the credits.