This fall will see the release of Meshell Ndegeocello‘s tenth studio album Pour Une Âme Souveraine (“For a sovereign soul”), a dedication to Nina Simone.
In the words of Meshell, the forthcoming album is “a dedication to Nina Simone and her incredible influence but it is also a dedication to the single, interior life we all experience.”

Pour Une Âme souveraine sees Meshell reworking some of the iconic tracks written by and for Nina Simone.

“The aim was not to re-create the existing versions, because we felt strongly that the only way to honor Nina would be for Meshell to find her own voice in the material.” explained Chris Bruce, who co-produced the album with Meshell. “Nina was always exploring and experimenting, and quite cathartic. If you are familiar with her work at all you will frequently find that there exist multiple versions of the same song. So we wanted to tap into that same creative spirit and make the songs our own.”

The album drops on October 9th via Naïve Records. Ahead of it, Meshell has unleashed ‘Be My Husband’, the first taste off Pour Une Âme souveraine . ‘Be My Husband’, written originally by Nina Simone’s former husband and manager Andrew Stroud, features vocal guest Valerie June. Listen to it now.