Sondre Lerche – “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was”
Sondre Lerche, the Norwegian indie-pop veteran now based in LA, has been Stereogum’s holiday pen pal for more than a decade, recording covers for release at this site around Christmastime each year. (This past December’s Britney Spears post will fill you in all on that.) But we first started paying attention because of Lerche’s originals, so we’re happy to report he has a new album coming out in June.
The new LP is called Patience, an appropriate title for a moment in history when basically the entire human population is being forced to sit and wait. Lerche mostly recorded the album in Norway and says it’s inspired by a rediscovered love of ambient music, running marathons, and a quest for serenity. Despite the ambient inspiration, “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was” is a real finger-snapper — a peppy indie-pop song directly in Lerche’s wheelhouse, with a bit of a disco kick. If you’re into Lerche’s fellow Scandinavian cult favorite Jens Lekman or Belle And Sebastian’s theatrical phase, you’ll probably dig this.
Lerche shared this statement about director Jon Danovic’s “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was” video, which is out today:
I had this idea that a good place to start would be to go into the woods with a shovel and shoot some stuff wearing that red coat. I kept thinking of the Tom Waits song that goes: “what’s he building in there?” Like, what’s he digging for up there? Ideas ballooned: what if there were more versions up there, spying on a perceived authentic self? What if they always find him, no matter where he goes? Basically an existential version of the “Two Way Monologue” video, I realize now in retrospect.
Watch below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Patience”
02 “I Love You Because It’s True”
03 “You Are Not Who I Thought I Was”
04 “There Is No Certain Thing”
05 “Are We Alone Now”
06 “That’s All There Is”
07 “Put The Camera Down”
08 “Why Would I Let You Go”
09 “I Can’t See Myself Without You”
10 “Don’t Waste Your Time”
11 “Why Did I Write The Book Of Love”
12 “My Love Is Hard To Explain”
Patience is out 6/5. Pre-order it here.
