Here at Stereogum, we will always fuck with Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche, and you will never hear us say otherwise. I mean, unless he becomes a serial killer or something. In such an instance, you might hear us say that we no longer fuck with Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche. That's a very remote possibility. As far as I know, there is no evidence that Lerche is a singer-songwriter. He is Scandinavian, but that doesn't mean anything. I'm just covering my bases here.
Anyway. Here's one reason that we love Sondre Lerche: Every year around Christmas, he sends Stereogum a new cover of a pop song. Last year, he did Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' "Die With A Smile." Shortly afterwards, he dropped the surprise EP Turning Up The Heat Again, which included his first new songs in five years. That EP was the precursor to Lerche's new album Acrobats, his follow-up to 2022's Avatars Of Love.
Acrobats only has eight songs, but Lerche recorded the LP across nine studios, and it features contributions from a number of regular Lerche collaborators and Norwegian jazz musicians. None of the songs from the Turning Up The Heat Again EP are on Avatars. Today, Lerche shares lead single "Little Kids," a lush and memory-drunk song about young love. The High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan did the string arrangements, and they're played by the Stockholm Studio Orchestra. Norwegian auteur Lea Meyer directed the slow, evocative video. Here's what Lerche says about the song and the video:
From the first verse’s innocent rejection to the third verse’s plunge into premature adulthood, "Little Kids" is about trying to avoid looking back in anger and instead look back with newfound empathy and perspective on adolescent attempts at stumbling towards love, friendship, and intimacy. It’s about forgiving who you were and who you were with and that feeling we get when we see photos of ourselves and realize we were so much younger than we thought at the time. It’s personal but highly universal.
For the first time in my career, I felt compelled to make a video that actually visualized elements of the lyrics. It’s not an adaptation, but something about the nature of these words made me not want to counter or contrast them this time but rather follow them and elevate them. I had been lucky enough to meet Lea Meyer at a thing a while back, and I just had an instinct that she’d get the song and that she’d be right for this. Drawing on some visual and thematic inspiration from the 1970 film A Swedish Love Story, we are introduced to three different couples, different ages and challenges. The results are a testament to Lea’s talent and unique touch. Her and her team were such a brilliant, beautiful group of young professionals who worked incredibly well and dedicated together. Obviously, the song is very meaningful to me, but I am also so proud of this video.
Later this year, Sondre Lerche will tour North America. Below, check out the "Little Kids" video, the Acrobats tracklist, and his tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 "How Much Of This Was Planned"
02 "Little Kids"
03 "Drive Me Away From You"
04 "Love Is All"
05 "Follow The River"
06 "Acrobats"
07 "In The Time Before I Knew Her Well"
08 "Life-Changing Love"
TOUR DATES:
9/10 - Boston, MA @ Arts at The Armory
9/12 - Washington, DC @ Miracle Theatre
9/13 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
9/15 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
9/16 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar
9/19 - Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Auditorium
9/20 - Ojai, CA @ Ojai Women’s Club
9/21 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
9/24 - Portland, OR @ Mission Theater
9/25 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
10/15 - Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret Scene
10/16 - Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret Scene
10/17 - Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret Scene
10/22 - Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret Scene
10/23 - Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret Scene
10/24 - Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret Scene
11/12 - Lisbon, Portugal @ Auditório da Reitoria da UNL
11/13 - Aveiro, Portugal @ Teatro Aveirense
11/14 - Arcos de Valdevez, Portugal @ Casa das Artes
11/20 - Vienna, Austria @ Blue Bird Festival
11/21 - Torino, Italy @ Spazio211
11/22 - Bologna, Italy @ Baumhaus
11/23 - Milano, Italy @ Arci Bellezza
11/27 - London, UK @ Lower Third
11/29 - Utrecht, Netherlands @ Vredenburg
11/30 - Breda, Netherlands @ Mezz
12/02 - Groningen, Netherlands @ Simplon
Acrobats is out 8/21 on PLZ/Virgin.
