Sondre Lerche to Release 20th Anniversary Edition of 'Two Way Monologue'
He has also announced a 20th anniversary Two Way Monologue tour that will feature Lerche solo alongside a string quartet.
By: Josh Sharpe Jun. 11, 2024
Sondre Lerche has announced a 20th anniversary edition of his classic album Two Way Monologue out October 11. The album was remastered by the original co-producer and mixing engineer Jørgen Træen, and will be reissued on vinyl for the first time in over a decade. The vinyl reissue adds two newly recorded versions of songs that Lerche wrote over 20 years ago for Two Way Monologue, but never recorded (“You Are Impossible,” “September Something”), two never before released songs (“Rejection #5” ft. Martin McAloon of Prefab Sprout, “Weakest Spot”), and the digital version adds four original demos and early versions. Today, Lerche releases “You Are Impossible,” which was originally written and demoed in 2003 and now recorded with his current band.
He has also announced a 20th anniversary Two Way Monologue tour that will feature Lerche solo alongside a string quartet. The tour will hit New York, Chicago and Los Angeles before shows in Japan and London. Tickets for all dates (except Chicago) are on pre-sale now and go on sale to the public this Friday at sondrelerche.com/concerts.
About recording “You Are Impossible” for the first time, Lerche explains: “I believe this was another one that I wrote and recorded in my new apartment, trying to come up with a few more songs for the album, in January 2003. For some reason I never played this one for my band or my producers, and it remained forgotten by all, even myself. When I recently found it on a dusty CD-R, it was the first time I got to experience hearing one of my own songs without having any recollection of writing it. It was quite the strange sensation. But more importantly: I quite liked it!
I chose to leave the ‘You Are Impossible’ lyrics exactly as they were, and sang the song at the best of my 2024 abilities. I don’t understand all the words, or even all the melodic leaps and transitions 2003 me chose to make, but I stand by that guy. My voice has changed and hearing it on the 2003 demo — and pretty much all of Two Way Monologue — I was struck by how polite, gentle and bird-like I sounded back then. It was another strange time in my life. I can never go back, but I am more than happy and proud to revisit.”
About the 20th anniversary of Two Way Monologue, Lerche Adds: “I just listened through the brand new remastered Two Way Monologue album. It’s the first time I’ve heard the album in one sitting since we finalized the recording sometime in 2003.
What a trip it's been, from then to now, from Two Way Monologue to Avatars of Love, basically. My immediate impression upon hearing it again actually confirmed my notion that these two albums are some kind of kindred spirits — only separated by nearly twenty years of life. Hearing Two Way Monologue now I can feel myself aching and stretching towards another sense of freedom and another level of expression in music. It was something I couldn't quite grasp as the time — a need for more space, more adventure and clarity of emotion, channeling a more esoteric state of mind. If I don't quite feel that I achieved any or all of this, I say so with the sense that I did achieve something else worth capturing. The album strives for expressions way beyond my reach at the time, especially in terms of words and singing. To me it sounds like I’m wrestling both my limitations and my abilities. I'm not quite sure what was most frustrating to me at the time: all that came easy, or everything that was so hard-won.
There's a beauty and brutal honesty to these very visible growing pains, and this continuous project of self-liberation, agency and identity through music and performance. Hearing it again now, in hindsight, with extra warm sonic clarity — remastered by Jørgen Træen, who mixed and co-produced Two Way Monologue back in the day — felt quite overwhelming and grand.
And as it turns out, I reunited with Jørgen on some of Avatars Of Love just a few years ago, so us revisiting Two Way Monologue together is maybe just another full circle moment.”
In addition to the Two Way Monologue Anniversary Edition, Lerche will also publish the first two songbooks in a career-spanning series, covering Avatars Of Love and Two Way Monologue, the latter of which will be included in the deluxe pre-order bundle.
In 2022, Lerche released his critically-acclaimed double album Avatars of Love which received rave acclaim from NPR Music, with Cyrena Touros calling it, “A journey start to finish… I feel like I could spend six months just listening to this one album and I could find so much to mine and explore.” In their four star review, American Songwriter said, “An impressive accomplishment, Avatars of Love probes the depths of desire to extraordinary effect." The album also garnered high praise from FLOOD Magazine, Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Under The Radar, Uncut Magazine (9/10 stars) and many more. The album received four Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannprisen) nominations in 2023 and won for Best Alternative Pop/Rock Album.
Last year, Lerche was cast in the lead role as Christian in the Norwegian production of Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical. With over 100,000 tickets sold to date over the course of 100 shows, the production has earned critical acclaim across the country, including a 6/6 rating from Aftenposten.
Tour Dates:
10/12 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rogue ^
10/15 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music ^
10/18 – Los Angeles, CA – Barnsdall Gallery Theatre ^
11/2 – Nagoya, JP – Live & Lounge Vio *
11/3 – Osaka, JP – Live House Anima *
11/5 – Kyoto, JP – Takutaku *
11/6 – Tokyo, JP – Moonromantic *
11/7 – Tokyo, JP – Moonromantic *
12/12 – London, UK – St Pancras Old Church ^
^ with string quartet
* solo
Tracklist:
Side A:
1) Love You
2) Track You Down
3) On The Tower
4) Two Way Monologue
Side B:
5) Days That Are Over
6) Wet Ground
7) Counter Spark
8) It's Over
Side C:
9) Stupid Memory
10) It's Too Late
11) It's Our Job
12) Maybe You're Gone
Side D (Vinyl Bonus Tracks):
13) You Are Impossible
14) September Something
15) Rejection #5 (2002 Demo)
16) Weakest Spot
Digital Only (Bonus Tracks):
17) Days That Are Over (2002 Casio Version)
18) It’s Our Job (2002 Home Demo)
19) You Are Impossible (2003 Home Demo)
20) Two Way Monologue (2002 Solo Demo)
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Artist
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