Me'Shell NdegéOcello: Weather

"'We can always blame it on the weather,' sings Meshell Ndegeocello, her voice shaded in octaves, on 'Weather,' the title track and opener of her intoxicating new album. The line arrives in the service of seduction, but functions as an overarching metaphor. Love and attraction, sexual entanglement and romantic attachment — they’re as mutable and unaccountable as complex weather systems, Ms. Ndegeocello suggests. And she’s intent on flying kites in the storm, taking some readings for herself. She has covered this ground before, but rarely with such an unwavering sense of clarity and restraint. 'Weather' is her most consistently strong album in some time, a product of vision and discipline. She had a shrewd outside producer in Joe Henry, who also contributed lyrics to a track; she had the inestimable advantage of her working band, which she has honed like a steel blade. ... And she opened herself to collaborators like Benji Hughes, who wrote those lyrics in 'Weather,' and who plays piano on 'Oysters'" (Nate Chinen, "New Music," New York Times, 11/7/11).
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