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By PAUL ZOLLO
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 e'Shell contains multitudes. Multitudes of soul, that is: of passionate melodies, rich harmonies, funky basslines, dynamic rhythms, and words that speak directly to the heart. She's one of those rare musicians who seems to have a limitless capacity for expressing herself in song, and it's an expression unbounded by any particular genre, style or even instrument. Fluent in funk, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, soul, rock, and folk, she sings and raps, plays bass, guitar, keyboards, and writes words that are poetic, provocative, political, passionate, and - especially on her newest album, Bitter -- heartbreakingly vulnerable.
In person she's shy and soft-spoken, and is not entirely at ease with the conventions of doing publicity. All of her albums have started with an instrumental, and in life she also seems to prefer to allow her music to speak for her. Wearing a t-shirt and jeans, she is ensconced within an immense royal blue couch in a Hollywood hotel suite, sipping hot chocolate from an oversized cup. When told that certain songs on Bitter are both brilliant and beautiful and quite a departure from her previous work, rather than expound on the glory of her own greatness, she answers instead with a genuinely gracious, almost silent, "Thank-you!"
But in her music her message is clear, and her voice is strong. And as reserved as she is in person, in her songs she doesn't shy away from any subject, and tackles tough ones directly and without apology. After exploring the politics of sex, race and religion on her first two albums [Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion], she delves deeply into the politics of love on Bitter. Songs such as "Loyalty," "Faithful," "Sincerity" and "Grace" speak to the elemental aspects of romantic love and the struggles of monogamy. And as in her previous albums, she does it with a kind of soulful candor that is disarming and tremendously touching:
I hear voices and I can't stand to be alone
'Cause emptiness is all I've ever known
Soiled by my lust I feel no shame
No longer forsaken when they call my name
No one is faithful
I am weak
I go astray
Forgive me for my ways
From "Faithful"
By Meshell NdegeOcello
Her name [pronounced Me-shell En-deh-gay-o-chello] is Swahili for "free as a bird," and it's this freedom that is foremost in her thoughts and her songs. In an industry where artists often revel in self-glorification, she yearns for greater anonymity, and for the freedom to express herself musically without any emphasis on her own image and voice. "I would love to find a band," she says. When reminded she already has one, she says, "No. I mean a real band. Where everybody works together. And I don't have to be the singer. I would love to be in a band where someone else is the front person. I would be happy just playing bass." But wouldn't she miss playing and singing her own songs? "No," she answers immediately. "I like to play. And I make whatever music I play my own. It doesn't have to be my song. I don't have Sting-itis. [Laughs] You know, where he said to Stewart and Andy [of the Police] , `We're going to do all of my songs.' I don't need that. I'm happy just playing bass."
The daughter of a military musician, she was born in Germany, raised primarily in the environs of Washington, D.C., and lived for years in both New York and Los Angeles. She was roundly rejected by all of the major record companies until one of her homemade sizzling demo tapes was heard by Madonna, who wisely signed MeShell to Maverick Records. "I respect MeShell on every level," Madonna said. "As a songwriter, a musician, a singer, a performer, but mostly as a woman."
MeShell's debut album, Plantation Lullabies, was astounding for the maturity of its musical vision and the depth of its soul. Frequent comparisons in the press between MeShell and Prince, which might have seemed overblown before hearing her music, made a lot of sense when confronted with her prodigious musical range, swinging from the funny-sexy hip-hop of "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" to sweetly romantic piano ballads like "Outside Your Window," to full-blown ambitious jazz-funk suites such as the astounding "Two Lonely Hearts On A Subway."
Other artists heard this music and started clamoring to capture her magic touch on their albums: John Mellencamp sought her out to duet with to their cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night"; Arrested Development enlisted her as musical director for many live shows; and jazz legend Herbie Hancock collaborated with her on the song "Nocturnal Sunshine."
Her second album, Peace Beyond Passion, spins through various aspects of spirituality and sexuality, starting with "The Way," one of the most inspirational tracks she or anyone has recorded. "I was in a real searching period on that record," she said. "I was just totally trying to find my way. I'm glad I've gotten through that and I've gained some bit of understanding about what I need to be doing. Your spiritual path is such a personal thing. And I was thinking I was trying to find some groups to belong to, trying to fit in somewhere. And that's not really what it's all about. Now I just try to be thankful and to be a good person."
That sense of gratitude permeates the rich and peaceful textures of Bitter, her third album, which resounds with a sense of tranquility, even when exploring the battles and burdens of being human. It's a peace that's also permeated her life, inspiring her to leave the urban sprawl of Los Angeles far behind to live with her son Askia among the beautiful forests near Mendocino in northern California.
"I was tired of the city," she said. "And tired of always being right in the middle of the industry. I'm on the same label with Alanis Morrisette, who sold 28 million records. Candlebox sold 17 million. The Deathtones go gold. I haven't even gone gold. So I feel a lot of pressure. But that doesn't keep me from doing it. I don't let that feed into my insecurities. So this label might be my home for a long time. Or it might not be. We'll see how it goes. This business is great, but, you know, I'm someone who needs to have a life."
BLUERAILROAD: Bitter contains many songs addressed to elemental human topics, such as "Loyalty," "Grace," and "Sincerity." Was that your intention starting the album, to deal with these topics?
Me'Shell NdegeOcello: Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with me. I guess growing up listening to Pink Floyd's The Wall, I'm deep into the concept thing. I just get hooked on something and it drives me, and before I know it I have twelve songs on one topic. I was coming out of a relationship - a very important relationship - and I was learning a lot about just being vulnerable. I'm hoping that the record comes across with the message that it is okay to be vulnerable. And somehow talk about it.
One of the main themes of the album is forgiveness - especially in terms of forgiving yourself.
Yes. And that is so important, to forgive yourself. In any aspect of life - work, play or whatever. We're so hard on ourselves sometimes. And I was. I was just the lash and the whip. It took me awhile just to realize to let it go, to move on, to not have any regrets. To live for today.
You've written most of your previous songs on bass and keyboards. But these new ones you wrote on guitar?
Yes. I bought an acoustic guitar for the first time. Three years ago. After I did Lilith Fair. Because I was just in love with the way Amy [Ray] of the Indigo Girls would just sit and play the acoustic and sing songs. I'm a huge fan of Chris Whitley, who goes out with just acoustics and is just incredible. So I got an acoustic guitar and started fiddling around, and that's basically how this album came to be. I just wanted to write some stuff that had a lot of simplicity. And then a lot of lyric stuff came afterwards.
With "Beautiful," though, I think the lyrics came first. But a lot of the stuff I was just sitting writing on the guitar. That's what's really different about this album - that I wrote these songs on the guitar. And I would just go and show the musicians what I was playing, and the music came together that way in the recording process.
Have you played guitar before?
I play funk and rhythm guitar. But this approach was different. I'm not a virtuoso on any instrument. I can sort of play at it and write on it. And come up with cool parts. But in no way am I a guitar player. I can just play a lot of different things.
In past songs, did you work more from a rhythm track first?
Yeah, this one was very different. This album I have Abe Laboriel on drums, Lisa Coleman on piano, Doyle Bramhall - who is one of them most incredible guitar players in the world. And I would hum the drum parts to Abe, and he would make them sound human. I would show Lisa the piano part and I would show Doyle the skeleton of the song we had, and we would just sit there and play it, and put it together. And that was so fun, because that is so different than how I had done the other two records. It was usually just David (Gamson) and myself.
You started the album with him?
Yeah. I started with him. And he produced most of the vocals on the tracks. But Craig (Street, who did produce) I have known since I was 17 years old. He was part of the Hendrix Foundation that I worked with over the years. We just get along really well and we are always having this dialogue about music. So we were kind of on the same wavelength. And he came up with this idea of doing a record the old way. You bring in the people and record it in four weeks. We had a dollar to make it.
A dollar?
Yeah. A pretty low budget.
Sounds pretty good for a dollar.
I thank Craig so much for that. He was a great help and influence. He's great with colors and textures and guitar tones. So we had a great time doing the record together.
It was great to be with him. He's like an abstract painter. He doesn't really talk in terms of music. The most important things that happen while we're in the process is that he talks about art and film and how we are today, and just trying to find a good cup of coffee. Those are the most important things to talk about while working on the record. He just made me feel very comfortable.
(continued ...)
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