Nina Simone - Fodder on My Wings

Nina Simone recorded Fodder on My Wings in Paris in 1982, and it remains one of the most personal and adventurous albums of her later years, a record that rewards patient listening.

Made during restless years of living abroad, the record reflects on exile, memory and the death of her father. It is unusually intimate, moving between English and French lyrics and folding Afro-Cuban horns, African drums and Caribbean rhythms into her piano-led sound, with the occasional 1980s synth adding an unexpected sheen.

Opener "I Sing Just To Know That I'm Alive" is a defiant declaration, while "Fodder In Her Wings" turns her own story into a haunting, poetic meditation. "Liberian Calypso" brims with island warmth, and her reading of "Alone Again Naturally" stretches the familiar pop song into a raw, searching lament.

Her voice is weathered and commanding, her piano playing full of surprising turns, and the arrangements shift easily between sparse reflection and joyful rhythm. Nothing here feels calculated, which is exactly why it cuts so deep and stays with you.

Long overlooked, it stands as a fascinating chapter in her story, and an absorbing listen for anyone who wants to hear Nina Simone beyond the classic 1960s recordings that made her a legend.