Natalie Merchant kicked off her first tour of UK and Ireland in eight years last weekend with a sold-out show at London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo and an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour Monday morning available online at bbc.co.uk. Performances in Salford and Gateshead followed, with a set at Usher Hall in Edinburgh tonight, then Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, and Dublin in the coming days. On the tour, Merchant is performing songs from her recent Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep, and favorites from throughout her career.

The Guardian gives a perfect five stars to last night's show at the Sage Gateshead. With just guitar and cello to accompany her, the tour format "focused attention on her stunning voice: a crystal mix of innocence and frets," says reviewer Dave Simpson. "Performing under portraits of the poets, she made their words sound real and exciting." Simpson concludes: "This is an evening of the magical power of words and music: at 46, Merchant may be in her prime." Read the complete concert review at guardian.co.uk.

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The Times of London, in its review of Saturday's tour opener at the Apollo, describes Leave Your Sleep as a "beautifully designed, double-CD package," with reviewer David Sinclair concluding of the live performance: "Merchant’s voice retained a pure, spine-tingling quality that turned the lullabies, fairytales and nonsense rhymes into wonderfully evocative modern folk songs, while her accompanying dancing and fluttering hand movements were a work of art in themselves." Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk.

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For more information on the current tour and this summer's US tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour. To pick up a copy of Leave Your Sleep, visit the Nonesuch Store.