Sondre Lerche‘s second album, Two Way Monologue, turned 20 back in March, and the Norwegian singer has just announced a deluxe 20th anniversary reissue and a few celebratory US dates where he’ll be backed by a string section.
“What a trip it’s been, from then to now, from Two Way Monologue to Avatars of Love, basically,” Sondre says. “My immediate impression upon hearing it again actually confirmed my notion that these two albums are some kind of kindred spirits — only separated by nearly twenty years of life. Hearing Two Way Monologue now I can feel myself aching and stretching towards another sense of freedom and another level of expression in music. It was something I couldn’t quite grasp as the time — a need for more space, more adventure and clarity of emotion, channeling a more esoteric state of mind. If I don’t quite feel that I achieved any or all of this, I say so with the sense that I did achieve something else worth capturing. The album strives for expressions way beyond my reach at the time, especially in terms of words and singing. To me it sounds like I’m wrestling both my limitations and my abilities. I’m not quite sure what was most frustrating to me at the time: all that came easy, or everything that was so hard-won.”
Out October 11 (pre-order), this will be the first vinyl edition since its 2004 pressing, and it’s been expanded to a double-LP set with the original album spread across three sides, with the fourth featuring two newly recorded versions of songs that Lerche wrote over 20 years ago for Two Way Monologue, but never recorded (“You Are Impossible,” “September Something”) and two previously unreleased songs (“Rejection #5” ft. Martin McAloon of Prefab Sprout, “Weakest Spot”). The digital edition adds four demos and early versions of songs on the album. You can listen to “You Are Impossible” below.
Sondre is playing three US dates to celebrate Two Way Monologue where he’ll be backed by a string quartet: NYC’s Le Poisson Rouge on October 12; Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music on October 15; and Los Angeles’ Barnsdall Gallery Theatre on October 18. Tickets for all three go on sale Friday, June 14 at 10 AM local time.
Two-Way Monologue (20th Anniversary Edition):
Side A:
1) Love You
2) Track You Down
3) On The Tower
4) Two Way Monologue
Side B:
5) Days That Are Over
6) Wet Ground
7) Counter Spark
8) It’s Over
Side C:
9) Stupid Memory
10) It’s Too Late
11) It’s Our Job
12) Maybe You’re Gone
Side D (Vinyl Bonus Tracks):
13) You Are Impossible
14) September Something
15) Rejection #5 (2002 Demo)
16) Weakest Spot
Digital Only (Bonus Tracks):
17) Days That Are Over (2002 Casio Version)
18) It’s Our Job (2002 Home Demo)
19) You Are Impossible (2003 Home Demo)
20) Two Way Monologue (2002 Solo Demo)
Sondre Lerche – 2024 Tour Dates
10/12 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rogue ^
10/15 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music ^
10/18 – Los Angeles, CA – Barnsdall Gallery Theatre ^
11/2 – Nagoya, JP – Live & Lounge Vio *
11/3 – Osaka, JP – Live House Anima *
11/5 – Kyoto, JP – Takutaku *
11/6 – Tokyo, JP – Moonromantic *
11/7 – Tokyo, JP – Moonromantic *
12/12 – London, UK – St Pancras Old Church ^
^ with string quartet
* solo