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Mar 24, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Photography by Jen Steele Sondre Lerche

Norwegian-born/American-based singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche has announced a new album, Patience, and shared its first single, “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was,” via a video for the track. Patience is due out June 5 via PLZ. Watch the Jon Danovic-directed “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was” video below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art.

Patience is the follow-up to 2017’s Pleasure and 2014’s Please (you can sense a pattern with the titles). It is Lerche’s ninth album and first since he relocated from New York City (where he lived for a decade) to the west coast, but the album was mainly recorded in his native Norway. Patience features percussionist Dave Heilman, bassist Chris Holm, keyboardist Alexander von Mehren, producers Kato Ådland and Matias Tellez, mixing engineer Jørgen Træen, and classical violinist/composer/arranger Tim Fain. Van Dyke Parks guests on “Put The Camera Down.”

In a press release Lerche says the album was inspired by his newfound love of ambient music and running marathons.

“The inspiration behind the theme and feeling of the album comes from the sense of space and time I associate with ambient music and minimalism,” Lerche says. “Ever since Pleasure came out in 2017, I’ve been running a lot, and I listen to mainly abstract music that helps me lose sense of time and structure when I run, what I refer to as ‘patient music. Performing the flamboyant and intense Pleasure show 140 times in one year got me into athleticism, and made me passionate about running. Before this, I never did anything remotely athletic in my life. After Pleasure I felt like slowing down everything in my life. I stopped touring for the first time since I was 18. I moved to LA, and I just focused on writing. I needed to make soothing music.”

As for the “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was” video, Lerche says: “I had this idea that a good place to start would be to go into the woods with a shovel and shoot some stuff wearing that red coat. I kept thinking of the Tom Waits song that goes: ‘what’s he building in there?’ Like, what’s he digging for up there? Ideas ballooned: what if there were more versions up there, spying on a perceived authentic self? What if they always find him, no matter where he goes? Basically an existential version of the ‘Two Way Monologue’ video, I realize now in retrospect.”

Patience Tracklist:

1) Patience
2) I Love You Because It’s True
3) You Are Not Who I Thought I Was
4) There Is No Certain Thing
5) Are We Alone Now
6) That’s All There Is
7) Put The Camera Down
8) Why Would I Let You Go
9) I Can’t See Myself Without You
10) Don’t Waste Your Time
11) Why Did I Write The Book of Love
12) My Love Is Hard To Explain

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