Meshell Ndegeocello "Weather"

One of the best things about writing is that I'm not expected to be able to pronounce every artist's name. Meshell Ndegeocello may be a mouthful to pronounce but her ninth studio release, Weather (Naive, 2011), is a mostly stripped-down album heavily rooted in minor tonalities and sad lyrics.

These songs feature a lot of piano and acoustic guitar starting with the title track. The soft instrumentation provides a solid, unobtrusive backdrop for Meshell's vocals, which range from quiet and breathy to deep and powerful to spoken lines. This variety of delivery can be a little disorienting for the listener. It works best on the song "Rapid Fire," the first song on the album longer than four minutes as well as featuring more electric instrumentation. It works least on a mostly incredible rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel," which utilizes the breathy vocals exquisitely but sporadic spoken lines have a tendency to interrupt the natural beauty of the song.

Ndegeocello has been mostly renowned for her bass playing, a noticeably absent element from much of the album. She's held down the low end for everybody from Basement Jaxx, to the Rolling Stones to Alanis Morissette. "Dirty World" is the sole tune to feature a really infectious bass groove. Though she does let loose some on the stellar track "Dead End."

This album is all about heartache and pain. That is usually a trustworthy combination for a really solid work of art and Weather is no exception. Of course, covering Leonard Cohen is always a surefire way to win my support. While I wouldn't call it a concept album, there is a definite sense of story arc here that immediately makes a work much more listenable. You can download it here.