Natalie Merchant is returning to where it all started for her as a solo artist, the 1995 album Tigerlily.
Merchant left 10,000 Maniacs in October 1993 after twelve years with the band and, in June 1995, released her debut solo album which produced three top ten Adult Pop hits, Carnival, Wonder and Jealousy. The album went to number 13 and would only be eclipsed by one other Merchant album, 1998’s Ophelia, which went to number 8.
On November 6, Merchant will release a complete rerecording of the album as Paradise is There: The Tigerlily Recordings along with a DVD documentary with live performances, archival footage and interviews.
Merchant said of the new project “Tigerlily is the most significant album I’ve made because it defined me as an independent songwriter after 12 years in 10,000 Maniacs. It also created a bond between me and an audience that has supported and sustained me for 20 years. I decided to make the Paradise Is There album and film for them, to honor the journey that we, and these songs, have all taken. Songs have new life breathed into them every time they are sung. Time has changed them as much as it has changed me. I wanted to record these songs again because it seemed unfair to confine them to the way that they were performed in the studio in 1995. They are so versatile, whether I strip them bare or enhance them with strings, and they lend themselves so well to re-arrangement.
“There are several songs from Tigerlily—Carnival, Wonder, Beloved Wife, River, and Cowboy Romance—that remain at the core of my live shows. They still have relevance to me and, by the response they receive, I can tell that they still resonate with my audience. I’ve spent a full year preparing this album and film, and the process gave me a chance to take the measure of everything that’s happened because of Tigerlily. The distance this music traveled once it left my hands is humbling, and I am moved by how many lives it has touched along the way.”
Here is the new version of Carnival.
A short promo piece on the new album:
The track list for the album:
San Andreas Fault
Beloved Wife
Carnival
River
The Letter
Where I Go
I May Know the Word
Seven Years
Cowboy Romance
Jealousy
Wonder
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