Natalie Merchant (album)

Natalie Merchant is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, released on May 6, 2014 by Nonesuch Records. Her first studio album consisting of all original material since Motherland (2001), it revisits a characteristic theme of Merchant's, of "characters, and women in particular, struggling in a culture where odds are stacked against them".^[2]

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Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	73/100^[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
Drowned in Sound	6/10^[5]
Exclaim!	7/10^[6]
PopMatters	7/10^[7]

Upon release, the album received mostly positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the album received a score of 73, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[3]

Commercial reception

In the United States, the album debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on its first week of release,^[8] selling around 12,000 copies in the United States in its first week. It also debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Folk Albums,^[9] and No. 5 on the Rock Albums chart.^[10] As of October 2015, the album has sold 44,000 copies in the US.^[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Natalie Merchant

*Natalie Merchant* track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ladybird"	6:37
2.	"Maggie Said"	4:27
3.	"Texas"	5:02
4.	"Go Down Moses"	5:01
5.	"Seven Deadly Sins"	4:51
6.	"Giving Up Everything"	4:20
7.	"Black Sheep"	4:08
8.	"It's A-Coming"	3:50
9.	"Lulu (introduction)"	1:03
10.	"Lulu"	4:15
11.	"The End"	5:11
Total length:		47:25

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes.^[1]

Musicians

Natalie Merchant – vocals (1-8, 10, 11)
Eddie Allen – flugelhorn (4, 5), trumpet (4, 5)
Kyle Armbrust – viola (6, 11)
Stephen Barber – string arrangement (1, 10), woodwind arrangement (10)
Andrew Barr – drums (3, 8)
Jonathan Dreyden – organ (8)
Steve Elson – clarinet (7), saxophone (7)
Tony Finno – string arrangement (6, 11)
Nadège Foofat – string arrangement (6, 11)
Marc Friedman – bass guitar (3, 8)
Clark Gayton – horn arrangement (4), trombone (4, 5), tuba (4, 5)
Quan Ge – violin (1, 6, 11)
Mark Goldberg – bassoon (10)
Gabriel Gordon – acoustic guitar (1-5, 7, 10), electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 6-8, 10)
Vivek Kamath – viola (1)
Mindy Kaufmann – flute (10)
Lisa Kim – violin (1, 6, 10, 11)
Liz Lim – violin (1, 6, 11)
Joanna Maurer – violin (1, 6, 11)
Jeremy McCoy – double bass (1, 6, 11)
Anthony McGill – clarinet (10)
John Medeski – organ (1, 4), electric keyboard (2)
Elizabeth Mitchell – backing vocals (2, 6)
Kurt Muroki – double bass (6, 11)
Jesse Murphy – bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 6, 7), acoustic bass (5, 10), tuba (10)
John Patitucci – double bass (1)

Shawn Pelton – drums (1, 2, 4-7)
Erik Della Penna – electric guitar (1, 2, 4, 7, 8), lap steel guitar (3, 5), acoustic guitar (10)
Robert Rinehart – viola (1, 6, 10, 11)
Sein Ryu – violin (1, 6, 11)
Uri Sharlin – grand piano (1, 4, 10), Wurlitzer piano (2), accordion (5), electric piano (7), tack piano (10)
Corliss Stafford – vocals (4)
Alan Stepansky – cello (1, 6, 10, 11)
Simi Stone – backing vocals (1, 4)
Tamar-kali – backing vocals (1)
Johanna Warren – backing vocals (1, 2, 6)
Kenny Wollesen – drums (10), percussion (10)
Sharon Yamada – violin (1, 6, 10, 11)
Ru Pie Yeh – cello (6, 11)
Wei Yu – cello (1)

Technical & design

Natalie Merchant – production
Paul Antonell – recording
Elizabeth Bauer – engineering assistance
Bella Blasko – engineering assistance
George Cowan – recording
Kabir Hermon – engineering assistance
John Horne – engineering assistance
F. Ron Miller – package design
Alex Nappi – engineering assistance
Eli Walker – recording, mixing
Dan Winters – photography

Charts

Chart performance for *Natalie Merchant*
Chart (2014)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[12]	87
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[13]	29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[14]	153
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[15]	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[16]	72
UK Albums (OCC)^[17]	34
US Billboard 200^[18]	20
US Folk Albums (Billboard)^[19]	2
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[20]	5
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)^[21]	8

References

^ ^a ^b Natalie Merchant (CD liner notes). Natalie Merchant. USA: Nonesuch Records. 2014. 541042-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) Retrieved 17 December 2022 from Discogs.
^ Hermes, Will (7 May 2014). "Album Review: Natalie Merchant". NPR. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Natalie Merchant by Natalie Merchant". Metacritic. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Natalie Merchant - Natalie Merchant | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
^ Lukowski, Andrzej (April 29, 2014). "Album Review: Natalie Merchant - Natalie Merchant". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
^ Henderson, Stuart (May 5, 2014). "Natalie Merchant Natalie Merchant | Exclaim!". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
^ Casarino, Matt (May 8, 2014). "Natalie Merchant: Natalie Merchant, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. May 24, 2014.
^ "Folk Albums". Billboard. May 24, 2014.
^ "Rock Albums". Billboard. May 24, 2014.
^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015.
^ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 19 May 2014" (PDF). The ARIA Report. ARIA (1264): 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-20. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
^ "Ultratop.be – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
^ "Ultratop.be – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in French). Hung Medien.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Natalie Merchant – Natalie Merchant" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard.
^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
^ "Natalie Merchant Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.

v t e Natalie Merchant
Studio albums	Tigerlily Ophelia Motherland The House Carpenter's Daughter Leave Your Sleep Natalie Merchant Paradise Is There: The New Tigerlily Recordings Folk Songs (with Kronos Quartet) Butterfly Keep Your Courage
Live albums	Live in Concert
Compilations	Retrospective: 1995–2005 Rarities (1998–2017)
Singles	"Carnival" "Wonder" "Kind & Generous" "Break Your Heart" "Just Can't Last"
Related	Discography 10,000 Maniacs

This page was last edited on 27 September 2023, at 03:24

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