Meshell Ndegeocello has released “The 5th Dimension,” her new song which features the HawtPlates, a vocal group with Justin Hicks, Kenita-Miller Hicks, and Jade Hicks. “The 5th Dimension” is the latest single from Ndegeocello’s upcoming The Omnichord Real Book, an album which explores her musical roots and featuring a number of guest artists including Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jeff Parker, Brandee Younger, Julius Rodriguez, Mark Guiliana, Cory Henry, Joan As Police Woman, and others, set to release on June 16. Listen to “The 5th Dimension” in the official visualizer below.
The song itself features a lot of jazz elements, with traditional brass and percussion heard throughout, and includes slight synth elements to give it a psychedelic feel. Ndegeocello has explained that “this album is about the way we see old things in new ways.” She said “Everything moved so quickly when my parents died. Changed my view of everything and myself in the blink of an eye. As I sifted through the remains of their life together, I found my first Real Book, the one my father gave me. I took their records, the ones I grew up hearing, learning, remembering. My mother gifted me with her ache, I carry the melancholy that defined her experience and, in turn, my experience of this thing called life calls me to disappear into my imagination and to hear the music.”
Listen to the previously released song “Vuma” from the upcoming album here.
Read more about the album announcement here.