The text I sent my sister was a mess of fawn and awe, but quite accurate, yet still a bit much:
Me’Shell NdegeOcello’s new album, ‘Weather’, is another masterpiece. Low, bass drum grooves like they were produced in outer space. Way more singing while allowing her famous alter
ego raspy baritone to play hide and seek with her still underused songbird tone
on some songs while on others, the deep rasp introduces songs as if the narrator. Singing about her favorites: love found, lost, rediscovered and then
there’s her career spanning undercurrent of the girl who ain’t too proud to beg
and plead while laying out her own deeply personal faults (traits?) like
playing cards on the table of life. Haunting.
Melodic. At times, it even sounds like her own little space age Western
(gotta hear it to believe it).
ego raspy baritone to play hide and seek with her still underused songbird tone
on some songs while on others, the deep rasp introduces songs as if the narrator. Singing about her favorites: love found, lost, rediscovered and then
there’s her career spanning undercurrent of the girl who ain’t too proud to beg
and plead while laying out her own deeply personal faults (traits?) like
playing cards on the table of life. Haunting.
Melodic. At times, it even sounds like her own little space age Western
(gotta hear it to believe it).
Me’Shell (I feel so close to her) stunned with her debut
album, Plantation Lullabies, with her
frank, poetic and deeply moving take on life in the inner city. And then there
were the gems she dropped on the random
movie soundtrack (Higher Learning: ‘Don’t
Nobody Love Me (The Way You Do)’ just made you say, “Who is THIS chick and
where the fuck she been….ALL my life?” ) Me’Shell was throwback and today all
rolled into one. A bassist, pianist, soloist, spoken word artist, rapper,
lyricist and song writer all rolled into one. Early in her career, she
collaborated with Lisa and Wendy of Prince and the Revolution, whose own very
eclectic sound of lush instrumental breaks and perfect arranging, mixing jazz
and funk and pop and rap and world beats. At times, it’s overwhelming. The
World Has Made Me the Man That I Am is case and point of that. Loud and
chaotic is what I typically take away from that album in disappointment before
stopping it prematurely, but what I understand with Me’Shell is that each album
is about something very specific. There has not been a better break up album than Bitter.
Her soul searching on Peace Beyond
Passion with a heart wrenching rendition of ‘Make Me Wanna Holler’ that was
so personal when I saw her perform it live in a small Chicago space years ago,
I quietly excused myself as if I’d been caught in the middle of someone going
through some seriously personal shit. Weather is stripped down. Unlike
anything I’ve heard her attempt. The closest would be The World… without the sucker punch of comfortably relaxing into
red wine and a joint then in walks a buzz kill being spastic, handsy and loud.
Me’Shell has a built-in fan base. This album won’t make new
fans. It will just re-establish her as the Godmother of………oh, I can’t keep up
with the monikers. To quote several female friends I used to turn on to
Me’Shell’s brand of church back in the day, “Wait….ain’t she that bald headed
lesbian? Who be playin’ the bass?!” Then
the enthusiasm erupts. Complete with ass
out and hand clapping, looking down to watch for proper ladylike foot placement
while belting out her best Me’Shell, “Uhhhh…..if that’s ya boyfriend…..he wasn’t last night!”
Hallelujah.
My favorites on Weather:
‘Chance’
‘Crazy and Wild’
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