Natalie Merchant singing old poems

I've always admired Natalie Merchant ever since I first heard her in 10,000 Maniacs. I remembered reading about 10,000 Maniacs and only managed to hear their stuff when I started working at the CD shop Gramophone, where I got the chance to sample the Maniacs' folksy tunes, in particular the album 'In My Tribe'. But what struck me more than the modern folk stylings was Merchant's voice. It was a powerful voice that carried with it a soulful quality. Her voice was soothing but it had an edge to it. I was a fan.

When she left 10,000 Maniacs, I followed her solo venture and in fact, found Tigerlily to be one of my faves. After her last album 'The House Carpenter's Daughter' in 2003, she sort of went silent and I never thought that I'll hear from her again. Now, she's back and releasing a two disc album called 'Leave Your Sleep'. It's a collection of Brit and American poetry from the 19th and 20th century set to music. So it seems that she's been busy researching poetry while she was away, nice!

I've embedded her performance at TED, filmed in February this year. It's a sublime performance that's touching and soulful at the same time. She even manage to rouse the TED audience and literally brought them to their feet! It's a beautiful half hour gig and I'm certainly looking forward to getting my hands on the album.