Singer-songwriter and bassist Meshell Ndegeocello has released a new single, titled “Love”, this is the second single from her forthcoming Blue Note album No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, a homage to famed writer and activist James Baldwin, the album will be released on August 2nd on his Centennial. Ndegeocello will be marking the album release with a headline performance at the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival on Aug. 2 as part of NPR Music’s Black Music Month celebration of Black women artists.
No More Water serves to be a visionary work of the life James Baldwin, while simultaneously musical and spiritual experience that induces a prophetic sonic odyssey that transcends boundaries and genres. Delving headfirst into topics of race, sexuality, religion and other reoccurring themes explored in Baldwin’s canon.
The new single “Love” explores the impact the emotion has on the psychological profile of the others. A fusion of R&B, neo-soul, spiritual jazz and a hint of neo-psychedelia, the track talks about the uncertainty of love and how sometimes that uncertainty could consume someone to live in fear of their surroundings. But one of the most striking parts of the songs is the line that is repeated in its chorus; “Love takes off the masks that we fear we can’t live without and we can’t live within”. The line seems to suggest that the precariousness of love is actually a moment of growth. The masks that are removed by love’s intense feeling of affection and interest forces one to confront those insecurities that are hidden by personas. It’s closing line hammers the message one more time “Love is battle, love is a war, love takes off the masks that we fear and can’t live without”.
“Inspired by Baldwin’s most well-known essay, Ndegeocello’s piece—often staged as a church service—employs music, sermon, text, images, and movement, all of which enter into conversation with Baldwin’s monumental and delicate essay about how black bodies were perceived not only by white Americans but by blacks themselves,” writes Als in the album’s liner notes. “The music you hear in No More Water, is Jimmy talking to Meshell and his words meeting the language of her sounds and then coming out again through a multitude of voices, a multitude of sounds and thoughts that bring Jimmy back and give him—finally—his whole and true self, that which he offered up, time and again, if only we knew then how to listen.”
No More Water marks a significant moment of self-discovery for Ndegeocello. She adds that Baldwin entered her life at precisely the right time. “It came when I was ready to look in the mirror. I’ve had to play Plantation Lullabies at a few shows. Looking back, I had an interesting perspective, but the dialogue was limited. It was more like a cathartic experience for a young person of color, whereas now I’m going, ‘How can I get us all to love each other? How can I get us all to see this for what it is?’”
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