Natalie Merchant's summer tour continues this week, as she and her eight-piece band head to Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Merchant will sign copies of her new album, Leave Your Sleep, at Borders in Chicago on Thursday. The Chicago Sun-Times says the album "is as gorgeous as it is ambitious ... Leave Your Sleep reawakens the soul to the spirit of poetry."

Natalie Merchant continues the first week of her summer tour with two nights at The Town Hall in New York City. The Hartford Courant, reviewing Tuesday's show, says Merchant's "distinct voice remains an instrument of power and beauty." She and her band can be heard performing on the latest episode of NPR's eTown, her first appearance on the show in a decade. The Washington Post's Express Night Out calls Merchant's Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep, "her most ambitious effort to date."

Natalie Merchant launches an extensive summer tour across the United States, performing songs from Leave Your Sleep and throughout her career. "At the root of her success are two qualities," says The Guardian, "an unwillingness to compromise, and total sincerity. In a world of glib, heavily produced pop stars, Merchant stands out."

Natalie Merchant offered an intimate performance at the 2010 Poetry Conference at West Chester University on Saturday. The Wall Street Journal reports that "poets, scholars and other enthusiasts reveling in rhyme, meter and narrative in verse were lined up like smitten rock fans waiting for Natalie Merchant to sign copies of her new, deluxe-edition, double-disc recording, Leave Your Sleep." The songs on album, says the Journal, "reveal an ideal fit between poetic and musical rhythms."

Natalie Merchant's US summer tour is still a month away, but a select few will enjoy a performance of songs from her recent album, Leave Your Sleep, this weekend, as she performs at the West Chester Poetry Conference. The Philadelphia Inquirer calls the album "an ambitious work that embraces fun, story, and sadness." Conference co-founder Dana Gioa calls it "unprecedented" and tells the Inquirer: "She's the Franz Schubert of folk-rock."

Natalie Merchant brought the UK leg of her tour to a close Sunday night at the Brighton Dome, to which the Independent gives four stars, calling Merchant "a solo artist of rare maturity and depth." Her latest release, Leave Your Sleep, is "a hugely ambitious and beautifully realised double album," reads the review. "Thirty years into her career, this is Merchant at her most vital."

Natalie Merchant's tour of the UK and Ireland comes to a close at The Helix in Dublin tonight; her US summer tour gets under way next month at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey. In the mean time, fans in the US can catch an encore presentation of her performance of "Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience," off Leave Your Sleep, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight.

Natalie Merchant has kicked off her UK tour and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. The Times of London says: "Merchant’s voice retained a pure, spine-tingling quality that turned the lullabies, fairytales and nonsense rhymes into wonderfully evocative modern folk songs." The Guardian gives a perfect five stars to her show at The Sage Gateshead: "This is an evening of the magical power of words and music ... Merchant may be in her prime."

Natalie Merchant launches her first UK tour in eight years with a sold-out show in London on Saturday. She is featured on NPR's World Cafe, discussing and performing songs from her new album, Leave Your Sleep, which host David Dye calls "extraordinary." Billboard says it "soars with gorgeous folk arrangements and Merchant's daring creativity." In the Times of London, Alain de Botton says: "It’s poignant and tuneful and the voice is, as always, sheer genius."

Now that Natalie Merchant's brief spring tour of select US cities introducing music from her new album, Leave Your Sleep, has come to a close, Merchant has announced that, following her upcoming European tour, she will return to the States for a wide-scale, nationwide summer tour. Beginning July 12, the seven-week tour will be her first major outing in seven years. Merchant and her band will perform new material as well as favorites from throughout her career.

Natalie Merchant and her new album, Leave Your Sleep, were featured on the PBS NewsHour. The Daily Beast chose the album for its Yes List, saying "Merchant’s voice is both soothing and electric on the album." Pop Matters says "this labor of love (so exhaustively researched, so musically collaborative, so many years in the making) is ... just beautiful and special." The LAist says "Merchant's voice was in top form" at a recent tour stop in LA.

Natalie Merchant's Leave Your Sleep was released last week to a number of milestones, including the No. 17 slot on the Billboard pop chart and No. 1 on the folk chart. Merchant continues to tour this weekend, including a live-audience taping of NPR's eTown. Utah's The Spectrum calls the album "a rich collection of music and poetry," on which "there's not a bad apple ... For an album this big that's quite an accomplishment." The Cleveland Scene recommends the complete album, declaring it "well worth the investment."