Natalie has progressively featured more and more strings arrangements, both in the studio and in her live performances, but Butterfly is an album devoted entirely to string quartet.

The material is divided between newly recorded (“Andalucía,” “Butterfly,” “Baby Mine,” etc.) and previously recorded songs (“My Skin,” “Frozen Charlotte,” “The Worst Thing,” etc.) enhanced by collaborations with composers Stephen Barber, Tony Finno, Karl Berger, Uri Sharlin and Megan Gould. Butterfly has been released in conjunction with The Natalie Merchant Collection, a deluxe 10-CD retrospective of her solo career.  

‘In 2015, Merchant elegantly retrofitted her debut, Tigerlily, with strings to bring it into step with her mature work. This process continues to yield magnificent results. This box set collates Merchant’s seven excellent solo studio albums but a disc of new and unreleased material entitled Butterfly is the biggest draw. A reinterpreted ‘My Skin’, accented with new string arrangements, showcases the enduring emotional vice grip of Merchant’s song-craft. With a deft archival sweep also organizing a disparate array of gems into a compelling rarities album, this is a definitive and absorbing celebration of an artist with a singular voice and vision.’ – Mojo

Produced by Natalie Merchant, recorded and mixed by Eli Walker and George Cowan at The Clubhouse, Rhinebeck, NY.