[Cover photo credit to Hilde Solli]
Sondre Lerche has kicked off 2026 with the release of a new EP, Turning Up The Heat Again. The three-song collection is a forerunner of music to be released later this year to follow 2022’s Avatars Of Love.
About the EP, Lerche explains:
“In the time that’s passed since Avatars Of Love came out I have kept busy with a few major and minor digressions. There was the two-act career-spanning performance at the Oslo Opera. And for 100 performances I was Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. I also made an EP of ambient and minimalist pieces called Sea Of Sighs. And a double album of remixes, collaborations and interpretations of Avatars-era songs, called Avatars Of The Night. I’ve also recorded a few more annual Holiday-covers, and compiled the first 10 years of them on an album called Understudy. But mainly and mostly I’ve been hard at work writing and recording the follow-up to Avatars Of Love. And to plant the flag, start the new year right, and offer you a pallet cleanser before a bigger meal, I am releasing this EP at the top of the new year. It’s called Turning Up The Heat Again, and it contains three brand new songs that are exclusive to this release. They were written and recorded in the same breath as what’s to come, but for now this is what I want you to hear!
“After The Coup” was written last winter, and recorded with great ease, elevated by Dave Heilman’s intricate drum and percussion arrangement, Alexander’s keys flourishes and patterns, and Chris Holm’s fretless-bass excursions. My first instinct was that it would be interesting to try to keep a song of some drama and tempo light on its feet. Co-producer Vetle Junker has a gentle, warm touch that inspired me to sing the song in the lower octave, the way I wrote it, rather than straining for power and more melodrama. The song is written in some frustration over how effectively the holy powers of religion are exploited to sugarcoat, disguise and justify all that’s bad and broken in our trying current times.
“Turning Up The Heat Again” was the first new song we began recording for this new era. I’d had the chord section for years, and tried many times to make something of it. One day while traveling home from a gig I got stuck at an airport for five hours and I went to work. Some of the chatter you hear looped in the background is from the original Voice Memo demo I recorded at the airport while writing the song. Incidentally, it’s a song about trying to write a song, and dedicating a lifetime in service of your own creations and passions. It’s a dub/trip-hop/bossa-hybrid. My friend Mariana Sangita on vocals, and the great Solveig Wang on clarinet. Kato Ådland co-produced with me, it took forever to fully land. I find this to be my most witchy song yet.
“Diplomacy” is a song I made up without much fuzz in the midst of this long process. I was starting to see what songs I had, and what was missing. For the longest time Diplomacy was called Ode To Chile — I hadn’t found the words yet by the time we started recording it, and the music felt indebted to my vague conception of Chilean folk and rock music. The band made it all sing in co-producer Matias Tellez’ new studio in Bergen, with some late addition guests: upright bass player Ole Morten Vågan and violinist Harpreet Bansal, both extraordinary ambassadors for Oslo’s thriving music scene. And Norwegian/Brazilian singer Gabriela Garrubo on vocals. It’s a simple song capturing everyday disillusionment and destruction in a world where war mongers are applauded for their perverse optics of peace. It’s also my first song In 5/4 (or is it 7/8? I can’t recall) time signature. I had to send the sketch to my drummer Dave to ask him what time signature it was.“
Last month, Lerche continued his years-long tradition where he releases his take on one of his favorite songs of the year and premieres it with Stereogum just ahead of Christmas. This year, he covered Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ “Die With A Smile.” In 2023, he released a full length album of the covers titled Understudy that includes Bob Dylan’s “I Contain Multitudes,” Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” and many more.
After two sold-out Oslo Opera House performances last year, documented in the concert film Stop Time, Lerche will bring the show to his hometown of Bergen, Norway for a final staging at Grieghallen on January 24.
On February 5, Lerche will reprise his role starring in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which returns for a limited engagement at Chateau Neuf in Oslo, Norway through April 11.
