Cat Power joins Meshell Ndegeocello for a reggae-leaning duet of Don't You Want Me

Meshell Ndegeocello and Cat Power have released a reggae-inflected cover of the Human League track "Don't You Want Me," the second single from Ndegeocello's coming duets album Synonym, out October 2 via Blue Note. Pitchfork describes the track building the synth-pop original out from a dub reggae groove, with Ndegeocello and Cat Power, born Chan Marshall, trading verses, conversing in the pre-chorus and eventually uniting.

Synonym reinterprets classic songs as duets and carries a long guest list that includes Chaka Khan, Brandi Carlile, Bill Callahan, Chris Thile, Madison Cunningham, Khruangbin's Laura Lee, Lizz Wright, Emily King, Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Destin Conrad, Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper, ANOHNI, WILLOW, Evann McIntosh and Ink.

The material spans six decades of pop, moving through 1960s folk, 1970s soul, 1980s R&B, early-1990s alternative rock and early-2000s hip-hop, all filtered through what Pitchfork calls Ndegeocello's restless, groove-led lens.

The cover follows last month's lead single, a version of George Michael and Aretha Franklin's "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" sung by Ndegeocello and Cynthia Erivo.

"This project is about classic songs that are known and loved," Ndegeocello says. "The songs have diverse tones, representing various genres and intentional grooves. But the album is also about joy, selfhood, individual representation, and universal experience."

The cover fits Ndegeocello's long run of restless work in R&B and soul.