Natalie Merchant - Keep Your Courage [2LP]

Nonesuch

£42.50

Format: 2 x LP
ICPN: 0075597907872
Release Date: 14 Apr 2023
Genre: Folk/Americana

‘It’s been 30 years since Merchant announced she was quitting 10,000 Maniacs to go it alone. She’d had it, she said, with “art by committee. I didn’t want to have to consult with all these other people.” She kept her word. Since Tigerlily, her five-times platinum solo debut, she’s led one of the most individualistic careers of any artist of her standing. Keep Your Courage is her first of all-new material in nine years. It’s also her most beautiful in decades.’ – Mojo

‘At the root of her success are two qualities: an unwillingness to compromise, and total sincerity. In a world of glib, heavily produced pop stars, Merchant stands out.’ – Guardian

‘Keep Your Courage, almost a decade in the making, finds Merchant as witty and welcoming as always, turning her gaze to what helps us endure life’s ups and downs.’ – Uncut  

Nonesuch Records releases Natalie Merchant’s Keep Your Courage, her ninth solo studio album and first of new material since 2014’s self-titled record. An eclectic album, produced by Merchant, it features two duets sung with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis (Resistance Revival Chorus), contributions from the Celtic folk group Lúnasa and Syrian virtuoso clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and horn arrangements by jazz trombonist Steve Davis. There are lush orchestrations throughout by seven composers including: Gabriel Kahane, Stephen Barber, Colin Jacobson, and Megan Gould. Keep Your Courage comprises nine original songs by Merchant as well as an interpretation of ‘Hunting the Wren’ by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum. The vinyl LP edition of Keep Your Courage includes four bonus tracks from earlier albums, previously unreleased on vinyl.

In celebration of the release, Merchant will embark upon an extensive tour, beginning in the US tour this spring, going into the autumn in Europe (see below for UK and Eire dates).

Merchant writes in her album’s liner notes, “The songs contained within this album were written and recorded during the global pandemic that began in the winter of 2019 and is in its fifth wave as I write, in the autumn of 2022. It has been, and continues to be, a period of great flux and fear on every level: global, national, communal, familial, personal. But this is not an album about the coronavirus or the chaos it caused. For the most part, this is an album about the human heart.” She continues, “The word ‘courage’ has its root in the Latin word for heart, cor, and we see it over and over in many languages: le coeur, il cuore, o coração, el corazón. This is a song cycle that maps the journey of a courageous heart.”

Over her forty-year career Natalie Merchant has attained a place among America’s most respected recording artists. She has earned a reputation for being a songwriter of quality and a captivating stage performer and has distinguished herself as a social justice and environmental activist. Merchant began her musical career as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the pop music band 10,000 Maniacs and released one platinum, two double-platinum, and one triple-platinum records with the group: The Wishing Chair (1985), In My Tribe (1987), Blind Man's Zoo (1989), Hope Chest (1990), Our Time in Eden (1992), and 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged (1993). Merchant left the group in 1994 and has subsequently released nine albums as a solo artist with combined sales of seven million copies: Tigerlily (1995), Ophelia (1998), Natalie Merchant Live (1999), Motherland (2001), The House Carpenter’s Daughter (2003), Leave Your Sleep (2010), Natalie Merchant (2014), Paradise Is There (2015), and Butterfly (2017).

Merchant has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Billy Bragg, Gavin Bryars, David Byrne, The Chieftains, Cowboy Junkies, Philip Glass, Kronos Quartet, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Mavis Staples, REM, and Wilco. She served on the New York State Council on the Arts from 2007–2011 at the appointment of Governor Elliot Spitzer and was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center by New York State Senator and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Merchant’s awards include: The Library Lion Award from the New York Public Library (2011), The American Society of Authors Composers & Publishers (ASCAP) Champion Award (2019), and The John Lennon Real Love Award (2019). More information about Merchant’s career and philanthropic work may be found at nataliemerchant.com.

Tracklisting
DISC 1:
Side A:
1. Big Girls (feat. Abena Koomson-Davis)
2. Come on, Aphrodite (feat. Abena Koomson-Davis)
3. Sister Tilly

Side B:
1. Narcissus
2. Hunting the Wren
3. Guardian Angel

DISC 2:
Side C:
1. Eye of the Storm
2. Tower of Babel
3. Song of Himself
4. The Feast of Saint Valentine

Side D:
1. Spring & Fall: To a Young Child (2023 Remaster)*
2. Butterfly (2023 Remaster)*
3. Giving Up Everything (2023 Remaster)*
4. Frozen Charlotte (2023 Remaster)*

*Vinyl only bonus content