Natalie Merchant has announced the release of her ninth solo LP, Keep Your Courage. Merchant’s first album of new material since 2017’s Butterfly, the singer describes the record as being “about the human heart”. “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,” she says. “This is a song cycle that maps the journey of a courageous heart.”
The album features two duets with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis (Resistance Revival Chorus) and also includes contributions from the Celtic folk group Lúnasa and Syrian virtuoso clarinettist Kinan Azmeh. Merchant has penned nine of the songs on the album, alongside a cover of the track Hunting The Wren by Irish band Lankum.