Style: Pensive folk and R&B; compare to Tracy Chapman, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo
Top tracks: “Oysters,” “Weather,” “Don’t Take My Kindness for Weakness”
Where Ndegeocello’s past albums have touched on everything from hip-hop to funk to jazz, her latest finds her settling into a cerebral, melancholy singer/songwriter groove—and, working with producer Joe Henry, she has crafted her most consistent and assured set of songs yet. By turns stormy and serene, Weather is a beautifully strange and soulful record about affairs of the heart; everything the singer does is steeped in humor and humanity, whether she’s covering Leonard Cohen (“Chelsea Hotel”), bearing frayed witness to love’s bluster (“Weather”), writing sunny pop paeans to the taking of risk (“Chance”), or reminding a lover not to take her kindness for weakness.
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