Me'Shell Ndegeocello
Bitter
Label: Maverick
Genre: Rock, Pop
File Under: Love is strange
Rating: 90
The song for which Me'Shell Ndegeocello is best
known has the least to do with her own music.
In 1994, she scored a No. 3 hit duet with John
Mellencamp, singing Van Morrison's "Wild
Night," a song she was able to funkify
ever-so-slightly with her rubber-band bass and
dusky vocals. A heartland rock move was the
furthest thing from the minds of Ndegeocello's
fans, who had reveled in the deep grooves and
frank sex-and-drugs talk of her two albums,
Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond
Passion.
On Bitter, Ndegeocello is showing yet another
side of her multifaceted talent, releasing an
album of dreamy, meditative textures, laid-back,
elastic funk, and generally depressing notions
about the nature of relationships. "You made a
fool of me," she accuses a lover at the album's
outset: "Tell me why." But answers aren't
forthcoming on Bitter, unless Ndegeocello
provides them herself. "Faithful" contends that
no lover is true, including herself, making her
indignation self-contradictory, but no less real.
"Satisfy" is a love song, but one of a higher order
霠it's addressed to God, to whom Ndegeocello
states, "Only you satisfy me." Um, say girl, can
you lower those standards just a little?
Apparently not. The title track offers a
blow-by-blow account of a falling out, while
"Sincerity" and "Wasted Time" examine
relationships that never truly came together.
Several songs do admit the existence of hope,
however. A cover of Jimi Hendrix's "May This Be
Love" offers some constructive daydreams amid
billowy, cloud-like string washes, while the
delicate "Beautiful" presents a snapshot of a
charged, sexual moment. "Grace," meanwhile,
promises that despite all that's gone down, real
love is still possible. Yeah, right.
Ndegeocello's albums are known for their
impressive array of musicians, and Bitter is no
exception. Featured artists include Wendy
Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, David Torn, Doyle
Bramhall II, Ronnie Drayton, and string arranger
Steven Barber, who, besides Ndegeocello
herself, gives the album its most identifiable
sound. Bitter may be a downer in terms of
attitude, but it's perhaps the most honest album
of the year and consistently lovely to listen to.
霠Daniel Durchholz
--
gender is just an excuse, relationship shouldn't just be an excuse,
love is often an excuse, although sometimes these excuses are all
we have to hold onto,
death is the reason and living is the celebration
- Beth Orton
--
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