Overview
- Multiple outlets reported Wednesday that Blue Note will release Synonym on October 2, 2026, and the label and press materials publicly disclosed the full tracklist and collaborators.
- The project’s first single is a cover of the 1987 duet “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” performed by Ndegeocello with Cynthia Erivo and is being promoted ahead of the album.
- Synonym is a 15-track collection of covers spanning folk, soul, country, R&B, pop and alternative rock that pairs Ndegeocello with guest vocalists including Cat Power, Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Bill Callahan, ANOHNI, WILLOW and Moses Sumney.
- Ndegeocello reunited with producer David Gamson for the record, co-produced the sessions with Abe Rounds and used a rotating ensemble of instrumentalists such as Deantoni Parks, Chris Bruce, Larry Goldings and Béla Fleck to reshape the arrangements.
- Framed by Ndegeocello as “an expression of queer liberation,” Synonym follows her recent Blue Note run and signals a turn toward collective production and cross-genre reinterpretation that highlights collaborators as central to the project.