Sondre Lerche Releases ACROBATS Track "Love Is All," Tour Kicks Off Sept. 10

Sondre Lerche has released a new single, 'Love Is All,' the latest track from his forthcoming album ACROBATS, due out August 21 via PLZ/Virgin. The song features clarinet player Solveig Wang and echoes the romantic tone of Lerche's earlier work, arriving with what the Norwegian artist has described as a mix of resignation and hope carried throughout the writing and recording of the record.

Reminiscent of the romantic love songs written early in his career, 'Love Is All' carries that sentiment over with whispering tranquility, featuring clarinet player Solveig Wang who delicately weaves throughout the song like a river through the reeds.

''Love Is All' felt like the emotional centerpiece of the album pretty early on,' stated Lerche. 'There was something about the combination of resignation and hope that resonated and carried onwards throughout the writing and recording of Acrobats. Looking back I think I was subconsciously inspired by the economical and patient poetry of some of my favorite The Blue Nile songs. Holding back and allowing space and minimalism, before the big release at the end. The ghost of Ryuichi Sakamoto was also present in the process. I did an all-nighter out on town the night before recording vocals, because I felt the performance needed to be straining and struggling more with the words and the melody.'

'Love Is All' follows the release of the sprawling 'Follow The River,' a flamboyant, 9-minute dance pop-odyssey accompanied by a shortened Single Edit version. Each of the song's six verses zoom in on the profound and mundane details of two lost dreamers meeting and falling in love through music. In contrast to the remainder of Lerche's forthcoming album, 'Follow The River' is unashamedly upbeat and optimistic, as illustrated by singer Suzanne Sumbundu's rousing gospel style choir and adlibs. The recording contains many musical easter eggs and nods to everyone from Pet Shop Boys and Mahler to Janet Jackson and Steve Reich, and features what is perhaps Lerche's most natural and simplistic chorus so far in his ever-expanding catalogue.

The lead single 'Little Kids' is also out now, which 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.

ACROBATS, Lerche's first full-length album of new material in over four years, is a bold, bombastic and emotionally expansive collection that wrestles with finding love while in times of soulless global unrest and unfathomable human atrocities. 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.

'There's a dissonance between the increasingly dystopian world we live in and finding beauty and peace in your private life,' Lerche explains. '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

ACROBATS marks Lerche's first full-length collection of new material in more than four years and follows previously released tracks 'Little Kids' and 'Follow The River.' Lerche is set to support the album with a U.S. tour launching September 10 in Boston, with additional performances scheduled in Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and other cities.

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