Meshell Ndegeocello has shared her third single “Thus Sayeth The Lorde” from her forthcoming Blue Note Albu, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, a homage to the writer and activist James Baldwin to be released on August 2 on his centennial.

“Thus Sayeth The Lorde”, is part of the continuing musical experience set forth on Ndegeocello’s previous single “Love”. The track is a reference to Audre Lorde, the self-described “Black lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet” whose powerful words add another dimension to this visionary work. Much like its multifaceted muse, “Thus Sayeth The Lorde” transcends the boundaries between gospel, soul, jazz, and neo-psychedelia creating a true fusion of styles that delivers a sparse, ritualistic and spiritual collage of sounds, while conveying it’s theme of religion, fear and mortality.

In a press release from Blue Note Records Ndegeocello explains how the connection between Baldwin and Lorde plays a role to the track’s inclusion on the album:

“There’s a YouTube video of Baldwin with Nikki Giovanni. Watching that I could see that Baldwin had to work a little bit of feminism. So, within the project, we wanted to add another voice. And I think Audre Lorde just fits that continuum of information and knowledge.”

Listen to Meshell Ndegeocello’s new single “Thus Sayeth The  Lorde” below: