Natalie Merchant's Latest Release Leave Your Sleep

Natalie Merchant's latest release "Leave Your Sleep" is not your typical album of covers. "Leave Your Sleep" is the former 10,000 Maniac singer's first album since "Motherland" in 2001. The album is also Natalie Merchant's first album on the Nonesuch label. The covers are not her renditions of other artist songs. The covers are "19th and 20th century British and American poetry" which Natalie has adapted into the songs on her new two disc collection.

The poetry comes from "well-known and obscure works, anonymous rhymes, children's lullabies" and includes poets such as "Robert Graves, Charles Manley Hopkins, Edward Lear, Ogden Nash, and Robert Louis Stevenson." The music comes from Natalie Merchant and more "than 125 musicians."

The musicians come from different musical genres including "Cajun, country, jazz, chamber music, R&B, Celtic, and reggae." The musicians gave Natalie Merchant the freedom to paint a musical landscape with the adapted poems. The landscape takes Merchant and the listeners of "Leave Your Sleep" on an exciting musical journey. Natalie weaves effortlessly from one genre to another with each track. Musically the album had to be a treat for Natalie Merchant to take her talented vocals and present them in such varied settings. She was quoted in Amazon.com how she "called on old friends and approached many new musicians I only knew through admiring their work." Natalie also stated "the poems inspired vastly different musical settings with their themes that ranged from humorous and absurd to tragic, romantic, and deeply spiritual." The fans of Natalie Merchant also receive the treat of hearing her voice in ways they have not heard it before. However, the first new music in seven years might be enough for her loyal fans.

"Leave Your Sleep" is far more than a collection of musical covers of poems. It is two discs of a musically creative, triumphant return of Natalie Merchant to the musical scene. The project might be too artsy to rival the commercial success of her "Tigerlilly" album. None the less, Natalie returns with a new album, on a new record label, with new tour plans. She has recently played "a series of dates in England and continental Europe" and "a full U.S. tour is being planned" for this summer. Natalie Merchant fans will be eagerly anticipating the new shows and will likely appreciate the new music on "Leave Your Sleep." The album is available now and was worth the wait. It will wet the appetite of Natalie Merchant fans for more music and hopefully they won't have to wait another seven years.

Sources:

Amazon.com