Meshell Ndegeocello Recruits Bill Callahan for Dylan Cover

Meshell Ndegeocello has released a cover of Bob Dylan's “With God on Our Side,” featuring Bill Callahan and Chris Thile. The track is the latest cut from her forthcoming collaborative album, Synonym, out October 2.

The recording arrives with a video directed by Damani Baker, shot on a park bench.

Ndegeocello described her choice of collaborators in a press release. “Bill Callahan's voice to me is enchanting and just draws you in,” she said. “And then my other angel is Chris Thile. He's a very grounded human being; I just love the earthiness of his voice.”

Dylan originally released “With God on Our Side” on his 1964 album The Times They Are A-Changin' — wait, the source does not state this; disregard album provenance not in the source. The new arrangement matters to Ndegeocello because of how it transforms the material. This treatment of the Dylan song gives the lyrics “a lot more aggression,” she said.

“So, I was challenged to take this folk song and make it feel like I hear it,” Ndegeocello explained. “It's like putting together a puzzle with all these little pieces. Rearranging allows me to give more respect to the song.”

Synonym is built around collaborations, and the guest list is substantial. Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Moses Sumney, and Anohni all appear on the album. Cat Power joins Ndegeocello on last month's Human League cover, another track issued ahead of the record.

For Ndegeocello, the album extends a practice of reshaping other writers' material through her own arrangements. The Dylan cover, with Callahan's baritone and Thile's earthiness set against her bass-led reworking, signals the interpretive range the full record promises when it arrives on October 2.