Natalie Merchant Signs With Nonesuch, Will Release New Music Next Spring

Natalie Merchant has signed with Nonesuch Records and will release her first new album in seven years next Spring. Her last album of original material was 2003's The House Carpenter's Daughter.

Merchant started her career in 1981 at the age of 17 with 10,000 Maniacs and stayed with the group until 1993. The Maniacs were immensely popular in alternative rock circles, producing such radio staples as Trouble Me, These Are the Days and their major hit Because the Night.

That last song came from the group's MTV Unplugged album, the last work that Merchant would do with the Maniacs. In 1995, she released her solo debut, Tigerlily which contained the hits Carnival, Wonder and Jealousy. She followed with three more studio albums and a live set before unofficially retiring in 2003 to raise her daughter.

Merchant returns to the stage on November 13 at the London Jazz Festival followed by a solo show at London's Conway Hall on November 16 and an appearance at the Crossing Border Festival in the Netherlands on November 20.