Meshell Ndegeocello has reimagined the Human League's 1981 synth-pop hit 'Don't You Want Me' as a reggae track, with Cat Power on vocals. Blue Note Records announced the single on 7 August, confirming it as the second preview of Ndegeocello's upcoming album Synonym, due 2 October (Blue Note Records).

Synonym is a 15-track collection of collaborative covers, each pairing Ndegeocello with a different guest vocalist. The album opens with Cynthia Erivo joining her on George Michael and Aretha Franklin's 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)', released as the project's first single. Cat Power's turn on 'Don't You Want Me' follows as track two (Rolling Stone).

The guest list runs deep. Chaka Khan covers 'Islands in the Stream', Brandi Carlile takes on 'Golden Ring', and WILLOW handles 'Hunger Strike'. The full roster of collaborators also includes Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, Madison Cunningham, Laura Lee, Emily King, Lizz Wright, Lianne La Havas, Destin Conrad, Moses Sumney, ANOHNI, Evann McIntosh, Ink, Bill Callahan, and Chris Thile (Rolling Stone). Stereogum noted that the album reunites Ndegeocello with Bill Callahan (Stereogum).

Ndegeocello co-produced Synonym with David Gamson and Abe Rounds. It is her third album for Blue Note, following her 2018 covers collection Ventriloquism (Rolling Stone). Blue Note first announced the album on 15 July through its official newsroom (Blue Note Records).

For a listener, the pitch is straightforward: familiar songs, handed to distinctive voices, routed through a rhythm section that treats genre as a starting point rather than a boundary. The covers span country duets, grunge, soul and pop — and the collaborators span generations of American music, from Chaka Khan to WILLOW.