Natalie Merchant launches her first UK tour in eight years this weekend with a sold-out show at London's HMV Hammersmith Apollo on Saturday. Back in the States, she is featured on the latest episode of NPR's World Cafe. Merchant speaks with host David Dye about her recent Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep—her first studio recording in seven years, on which she sets poetry to music. She and her band also perform four songs from the album: "The Man in the Wilderness," "The Janitor's Boy," "maggie and milly and molly and may," and "The Sleepy Giant." Dye calls Leave Your Sleep "extraordinary." You can listen to the episode online at npr.org.

Billboard magazine recently reviewed Leave Your Sleep, saying it "soars with gorgeous folk arrangements and Merchant's daring creativity ... Merchant's voice retains its subtle power, and the broad spectrum of genres Merchant explores prevents the set from feeling overlong. The painstakingly constructed record feels light and nimble, a credit to her still-impressive talent as a songwriter." Read more at reuters.com.

In today’s issue of the Times of London, writer and philosopher Alain de Botton picks Merchant's recent Nonesuch debut album, Leave Your Sleep, as one of his cultural highlights. The album has been years in the making and "it’s been worth the wait," says de Botton. "It’s poignant and tuneful and the voice is, as always, sheer genius."

To coincide with the start of her tour of the UK and Ireland, Merchant will appear on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour on Monday morning. The show begins at 10 AM GMT. For more information, visit bbc.co.uk.

For more on the UK tour, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.