Mpls: Sondre Lerche at The Cedar (Sep 16, 2026)
Sondre Lerche released “Follow The River,” the second single to be released from his forthcoming album Acrobats that arrives on August 21 via PLZ/Virgin. The song is a flamboyant dance pop-odyssey that clocks in at more than 9 minutes on the sprawling album version, with a compact 4-minute version also released today.
Each of the song’s six verses zoom in on the profound and mundane details of two lost dreamers meeting and falling in love through music. In contrast to the remainder of Lerche’s forthcoming album, “Follow The River” is unashamedly upbeat and optimistic, as illustrated by singer Suzanne Sumbundu’s rousing gospel style choir and adlibs. The recording contains many musical easter eggs and nods to everyone from Pet Shop Boys and Mahler to Janet Jackson and Steve Reich, and features what is perhaps Lerche’s most natural and simplistic chorus so far in his ever-expanding catalogue.
About the song, Lerche explains, “‘Follow The River’ started life as a small, simple song when I wrote it at home on my acoustic guitar. But with each verse the story grew into a flamboyant dance pop-odyssey, 9 minutes long in its sprawling album version. By the end of it I had to call in my friend singer Suzanne Sumbundu to provide a rousing gospel style choir and adlibs.”
The new single follows the release of “Little Kids,” which features vivid string arrangements by Sean O’Hagan (High Llamas) and performed by the Stockholm Studio Orchestra, who recently played on Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl. Stereogum praised the “lush and memory-drunk song about young love,” that arrived alongside an “evocative” official video directed by rising Norwegian filmmaker Lea Meyer.
His first full-length album of new material in over four years, Acrobats is a bold, bombastic and emotionally expansive collection that wrestles with finding love while in times of soulless global unrest and unfathomable human atrocities. Across the eight-song suite, Lerche moves between joy and introspection, exploring love not as an escape from reality, but as a way of confronting it.
“There’s a dissonance between the increasingly dystopian world we live in and finding beauty and peace in your private life,” Lerche explains. “It feels almost like a paradox that I’m blessed to have landed in a life and a love that is very meaningful and true. And, at the same time, it feels impossible to write a love song without taking into account the unspeakable things that are happening in the world. Falling in love feels more and more like an act of defiance.”
Lerche will celebrate the release of Acrobats with a US tour that will kick off on September 10 in Boston MA, followed by performances in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and more. Find a full list of tour dates below or visit his website.
Tour Dates:
09/10 – Boston, MA @ Arts at The Armory
09/12 – Washington, DC @ Miracle Theatre
09/13 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
09/15 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
09/16 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Cedar
09/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sid The Cat Auditorium
09/20 – Ojai, CA @ Ojai Women’s Club
09/21 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
09/24 – Portland, OR @ Mission Theater
09/25 – Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
10/01 – Bryne, NO @ Hvelvet Scene
10/02 – Stavanger, NO @Tou
10/03 – Skien, NO @ Parkbiografen
10/07 – Tromsø, NO @ Bryggeriet Scene
10/08 – Hammerfest, NO @Arktisk Kultursenter
10/09 – Alta, NO @ Rabagast
10/10 – Bodø, NO @ Beddingen Kulturhus
10/14 – Copenhagen, DK @ Rust
10/15 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/16 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/17 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/22 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/23 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/24 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret Scene
10/29 – Kongsberg, NO @ Energimølla
10/30 – Trondheim, NO @ Byscenen
10/31 – Sogndal, NO @ Sogndal Kulturhus
11/02 – Arhus, DK @ Train
11/03 – Stockholm, SE @ Hus7
11/04 – Gothenburg, SE @ Skeppet
11/12 – Lisbon, PT @ Auditório da Reitoria da UNL
11/13 – Aveiro, PT @ Teatro Aveirense
11/14 – Arcos de Valdevez, PT @ Casa das Artes
11/16 – Barcelona, ES @ Sala Upload
11/17 – Madrid, ES @ Sala B
11/20 – Vienna, AT @ Blue Bird Festival
11/21 – Torino, IT @ Spazio211
11/22 – Bologna, IT @ Baumhaus
11/23 – Milano, IT @ Arci Bellezza
11/27 – London, UK @ Lower Third
11/29 – Utrecht, NL @ Vredenburg
11/30 – Breda, NL @ Mezz
12/02 – Groningen, NL @ Simplon