After 13 years away, singer offers new disc
NEW YORK — Natalie Merchant was a major star in the late 1980s and ’90s, first with 10,000 Maniacs and then with a solo career.
She dropped off the pop-music map after the 2001 album Motherland, and this month released her first disc of new compositions since then.
Merchant is a divorced mother of a 10-year-old. She has financed and recorded a double album of children’s poetry set to music. She has also recorded folk covers and curated retrospectives on 10,000 Maniacs.
Natalie Merchant, her first album in 13 years, reveals an earthier, even soulful Merchant, particularly on the lead track.
The 50-year-old talked recently about her life and music.
Q: Did you lose the desire to make music?
A: I kept writing. There was this excruciating point about three years ago when I had a friend come over. She was having a difficult time.
I spent the whole afternoon playing for her, and she was weeping at points. It was an audience of one. She said, “Why aren’t you recording any of these songs?” I realized it was overdue.
Q: Did you lose interest in the business of music?
A: I wasn’t interested in being a part of the music industry after digital downloading happened. My record company, Elektra, just vanished (and was revived recently).
I just thought it was the appropriate time in my life to step back and start a family, reassess why I dig music and what music I wanted to do, but also get away from the “sky is falling” mentality.
Q: How would you describe being back?
A: Well, I’ve given up all ambition and all expectations. All that I can do is make the most satisfying recordings of my music as I possibly can, and then it’s in God’s hands. I live a pretty humble existence. Because I was fiscally conservative, I have this incredible luxury of not having to worry about it.
My motivation can be that I just want to make music that moves me and hopefully can move other people.
The thing that keeps me competitive, or stay engaged, is that I look at popular culture in America and I feel that there’s room for my voice and there’s a need for my voice.
Q: Do you ever become nostalgic for 10,000 Maniacs and its music, and do you think you’ll ever play with the group again?
A: It was 21 years ago, and so much has happened since. I’m so much more interested in what I’m doing now.
Q: So many musicians of a certain age think they have to color their hair to hide any sign of aging. Did you get any pressure to cover your gray hair?
A: I’ve been hearing mostly from women how refreshing it is to see someone with gray hair who is comfortable with it.