Sondre Lerche Releases ACROBATS Album, US Tour to Launch Sept. 10 in Boston
The eight-song record features contributions from Sean O'Hagan and the Stockholm Studio Orchestra.
Acclaimed Norwegian artist Sondre Lerche released his 11th studio album, ACROBATS, via PLZ/Virgin. His first full-length album of new material in over four years, the eight-song collection is a bold, bombastic and emotionally expansive collection that wrestles with finding love in an increasingly uncertain world. Across the eight-song suite, he moves between joy and introspection, exploring love not as an escape from reality, but as a way of confronting it.
The album is now available for purchase physically on an exclusive 2xLP gatefold 'Splendor' edition including recent EP Turning Up The Heat Again, as well as a standard 1xLP edition on transparent red vinyl, and CD.
On September 10, Lerche will kick off his 10-date US tour in Boston, MA, followed by performances in Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and more. A full list of tour dates is below.
Earlier this week, Lerche hosted an album release party at La Sirene in Oslo, Norway where he played a short acoustic set, performing the title track.
About the album's release, Lerche says, 'This record has been my life for the last three years, so I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve when release day comes. It's almost embarrassing! It feels like the most compact, flamboyant and sincere work I've ever made, so there's an extra layer of excitement and vulnerability in sharing it. A loving statement of anti-cynicism, let's go!'
This week, Lerche appeared on The Talkhouse Podcast in conversation with composer William Basinski, as well as on Bill Pearis' Sound Bites: Extra Helpings podcast, where they discussed how his run starring in stage musical Moulin Rouge influenced the record, as did dance music artists like Pet Shop Boys and Underworld.
Recorded across nine studios with a wide-ranging cast of creatives, ACROBATS is a sobering follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2022 album Avatars of Love. Lerche sees himself as the 'curator' of the record, bringing in musician friends old and new to create delicate biomes of sound. There's his long-time producers Matias Tellez and Kato Ådland, clarinet player Solveig Wang, saxophone player Jonas Hamre, singer Veslemøy Narvesen (who also happens to be one of Norway's premiere jazz drummers), upright bass player Ole Morten Vagan, trombonist Emil Bø -- and his longtime band: Dave Heilman on drums, Chris Holm on bass, and Alexander von Mehren on keys.
Over the last two months, Lerche released the album's nearly nine minute long album centerpiece 'Love Is All' that was inspired by The Blue Nile and Ryuchi Sakamoto, as well as the nine-minute dance-pop odyssey 'Follow The River.'
The lead single 'Little Kids' features vivid string arrangements by Sean O'Hagan (High Llamas) performed by the Stockholm Studio Orchestra, who recently played on Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl. The song arrived alongside an official video directed by rising Norwegian filmmaker Lea Meyer.
'There's a dissonance between the increasingly dystopian world we live in and finding beauty and peace in your private life,' Lerche says about the theme of the album. 'It feels almost like a paradox that I'm blessed to have landed in a life and a love that is very meaningful and true. And, at the same time, it feels impossible to write a love song without taking into account the unspeakable things that are happening in the world. Falling in love feels more and more like an act of defiance.'
Tracklist
01) How Much Of This Was Planned
02) Little Kids
03) Drive Me Away From You
04) Love Is All
05) Follow The River
06) Acrobats
07) In The Time Before I Knew Her Well
08) Life-Changing Love
Tour Dates
09/10 - Boston, MA @ Arts at The Armory
09/12 - Washington, DC @ Miracle Theatre
09/13 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
09/15 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09/16 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar
09/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Auditorium
09/20 - Ojai, CA @ Ojai Women's Club
09/21 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
09/24 - Portland, OR @ Mission Theater
09/25 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
10/01 - Bryne, NO @ Hvelvet Scene
10/02 - Stavanger, NO @Tou
10/03 - Skien, NO @ Parkbiografen
10/07 - Tromsø, NO @ Bryggeriet Scene
10/08 - Hammerfest, NO @Arktisk Kultursenter
10/09 - Alta, NO @ Rabagast
10/10 - Bodø, NO @ Beddingen Kulturhus
10/14 - Copenhagen, DK @ Rust
10/15 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/16 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/17 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/22 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/23 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/24 - Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/29 - Kongsberg, NO @ Energimølla
10/30 - Trondheim, NO @ Byscenen
10/31 - Sogndal, NO @ Sogndal Kulturhus
11/02 - Arhus, DK @ Train
11/03 - Stockholm, SE @ Hus7
11/04 - Gothenburg, SE @ Skeppet
11/12 - Lisbon, PT @ Auditorio da Reitoria da UNL
11/13 - Aveiro, PT @ Teatro Aveirense
11/14 - Arcos de Valdevez, PT @ Casa das Artes
11/16 - Barcelona, ES @ Sala Upload
11/17 - Madrid, ES @ Sala B
11/20 - Vienna, AT @ Blue Bird Festival
11/21 - Torino, IT @ Spazio211
11/22 - Bologna, IT @ Baumhaus
11/23 - Milano, IT @ Arci Bellezza
11/27 - London, UK @ Lower Third
11/29 - Utrecht, NL @ Vredenburg
11/30 - Breda, NL @ Mezz
12/02 - Groningen, NL @ Simplon
Photo Credit: Hilde Solli
Photo Credit: Hilde Solli
