''Weather'' is the ninth studio album by American singer

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

, released on November 15, 2011, on the Naïve label.

Critical reception

''Weather'' was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 82 based on 15 reviews. In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

, critic reviewer Andy Kellman wrote: "The wealth of lithe, quiet backdrops played at slow tempos allows Ndegeocello, who switches between husky lower and sweet upper registers with more ease than ever, to tickle the ears. No song rocks, but a few groove." Alex McPherson of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described ''Weather'' as "deeply intimate, wholly engrossing,' going on to say "Ndegéocello's work has often been heavy with mood while elliptical of songcraft, but ''Weather'' contains her most direct material since the early 1990s." At '' Spin'', Barry Walters explained: "After kick-starting neo-soul in the '90s, this chimerical bassist shimmied through countless genres as if to dodge and defy any tag — racial, gender, sexual, aesthetic. Here, she teams with producer Joe Henry for a somber mood piece that plays the introspection of singer-songwriter folk as meditative jazz."

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Meshell Ndegeocello – bass, vocals *

Deantoni Parks Deantoni Parks (born November 2, 1977) is an American new wave/avant-garde/experimental musician. He is the co-founder, co-producer and drummer of the New York band KUDU along with artist Sylvia Black, and one half of the writing duo We Are Dar ...

– drums * Nicci Kasper – vocals * Chris Bruce – guitar, bass *

Keefus Ciancia Keith Ciancia, better known as Keefus Green or Keefus Ciancia is an American musician, composer and music producer. He has won an Ivor Novello Award and been nominated for an Emmy. Along with his long time creative collaborator, T Bone Burnett, ...

– piano * Gabe Noel – cello, bass * Benji Hughes – piano, vocals *

– drums *

Jay Bellerose Jay Bellerose is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session and live performance work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists. Biography Bellerose was born in Maine. A jazz enthusiast, he attended ...

– drums Production *

Joe Henry Joseph Lee Henry (born December 2, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums. Early life H ...

– producer *

Ryan Freeland Ryan Freeland is an American record producer, songwriter, engineer, and mixer based in Los Angeles. Freeland is a five-time Grammy Award winner and is best known for his work with Bonnie Raitt, Ray LaMontagne, Aimee Mann, Joe Henry, Grant-Lee ...

− engineer, mastering, mixer

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2011 albums Meshell Ndegeocello albums Albums produced by Joe Henry Alternative rock albums by American artists