All artistic people change with time. After all, artists are human, and if you-as a human-don’t evolve over time, you’re probably doing something wrong. I don’t know if the general public realizes that, though. Which I guess is why so many folks pitch fits when their favorite musician doesn’t “sound like they did (x) years ago.”
It’s always interesting to listen to artists who have had lengthy careers and hear the changes their music has undergone in that time. Singer/bassist Me’shell Ndegeocello is one of those artists whose music has changed…or at least broadened in the 21 years since her groundbreaking debut Plantation Lullabies, an album widely considered to have been one of the building blocks of the neo-soul movement.
In the time since, the versatile Ndegeocello has worked with everyone from Madonna (her former label head) to hip-hop legend Redman, from former Prince co-horts Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman to alt-country troubadour Joe Henry, from firebrand Sinead O’ Connor to keyboard wizard Herbie Hancock. Despite the genre morphing, Ndegeocello has released nary a dud over the course of 10 albums. Her eleventh, Comet, Come To Me, continues one of the longest currently-running hot streaks of creativity in popular music.
True to recent form, Comet is a wildly diverse affair with a dark streak running through it. While Me’shell is no longer explicitly a hip-hop or funk artist anymore, her songs still have trace elements of both genres. She opens the album with a striking version of Whodini’s 1984 classic “Friends.” The hard-hitting lyrics of Jalil and Ecstacy take a trippy turn when coming out of Me’shell’s digitally altered voice box, and the result is the rare cover that’s a match for the original (something she achieved once before when she turned Ready For The World’s 1986 slow jam “Love You Down” into a painfully erotic, buttcheek-quivering opus.)
Comet also continues Me’shell’s flirtation with reggae, which she began in earnest with her final Warner Brothers album Comfort Woman a decade ago. “Forget My Name” and the title track aren’t verse/chorus songs in the traditional sense, but have fantastic band interplay to match up to the dubby, rock solid rhythms. Elsewhere, Me’shell explores Stones-y dance/rock with “Conviction” and convincingly adds jazz elements to “Folie a Deux” and “Continuous Performance.”
If there’s anything that remains constant on Comet (and in Me’shell’s work overall,) it’s a decidedly downcast view towards love and relationships. “Bright” and “shiny” are two words that don’t pop up much in her musical vocabulary, so if you add that to the fact that she often eschews traditional pop song structure, the result is that Comet, again like most of Me’shell’s work, can be a challenging listen.
BUT IT’S WORTH IT. There’s a very short list of artists with careers longer than a decade that have managed to avoid embarrassing slipups. The Roots, Kanye, Radiohead, Jack White, OutKast…and Me’shell. Comet, Come To Me is an engaging, emotional and excellent listen. Stubborn devotion to her musical ethos might have cost her a big pop career, but it’s also created two decades worth of amazing music, much appreciated by her loyal legion of fans. If you’re not familiar with Me’shell’s work, or haven’t listened to her in a while, pick up this album. You won’t regret it.
Grade: A-