Cécile McLorin Salvant’s new album, Mélusine, is due March 24 on Nonesuch; vinyl is due May 19. Mélusine is a mix of five originals and interpretations of nine songs, dating as far back as the 12th century, mostly sung in French along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl. They tell the folk tale of Mélusine, a woman who turns into a half-snake each Saturday after a childhood curse by her mother. The track “D’un feu secret,” Michel Lambert’s 1660 air de cour, is available today, along with an animated video by Amanda Bonaiuto that may be seen here.

“To try to define Mary Halvorson solely by the term ‘guitarist’ is to do both her and her art a disservice, as she’s unlike any other guitarist currently playing today,” says Matt Byars, co-host of NPR’s Essential Tremors. “Halvorson’s work is vibrant and alive, agile and electric, fluid and inventive, all of which are particularly in evidence on her latest release.” She talks with Byars and his co-host Lee Gardner about songs by Jimi Hendrix, Yusef Lateef, and Robert Wyatt that helped shape who she is. You can hear why on the episode, a collaboration with Big Ears Festival, where Halvorson will perform this spring, here.