Leave Your Sleep

Leave Your Sleep is Natalie Merchant's fifth studio album and her most ambitious project to date. Following a six-year hiatus from the music industry to raise her daughter, Merchant returned with a double-disc concept album that adapts the works of various poets (including Ogden Nash, E.E. Cummings, and Robert Louis Stevenson) into song. The project was the result of years of research into the lives of the poets and the musical traditions that might best represent their words. To achieve the album's diverse sound, Merchant collaborated with over 130 musicians, including members of the New York Philharmonic, The Klezmatics, and Wynton Marsalis. The record is a significant departure from her 10,000 Maniacs roots, leaning heavily into folk, jazz, and classical influences. Critically, it was hailed as a 'magnum opus' for its scholarly depth and vocal performance, though its sheer length was noted as a challenge for casual listeners. It stands as a unique intersection of literature and music, cementing Merchant's role as a musical historian.