"That lush, layered contralto voice can belong to only one person—Natalie Merchant," NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday host Ayesha Rascoe says of her guest. "She does it all." They talk about Merchant's new album, Keep Your Courage, out this coming Friday on Nonesuch Records, and her months-long tour, also starting this Friday. You can hear their conversation featuring excerpts from the album below and pre-order the album here.

Keep Your Courage is Natalie Merchant’s tenth solo studio album and the first of new material since her 2014 self-titled record. An eclectic album, produced by Merchant, it features lush orchestrations throughout, two duets sung with vocalist Abena Koomson-Davis of Resistance Revival Chorus, contributions from the Celtic folk group Lúnasa and Syrian virtuoso clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, and horn arrangements by jazz trombonist Steve Davis. There are nine original songs by Merchant and an interpretation of a song by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum. The vinyl LP edition includes four bonus tracks from earlier albums, previously unreleased on vinyl.