![]() She recovered in a neck brace, unable to see a doctor in person due to lockdowns, relying on friends and her soon-to-be-in college daughter. Merchant went under the knife, risking paralysis, a lost voice and possibly death. “Keep Your Courage” emerges as a triumph over personal pain. Merchant first made musical waves in the the 1980s with the band 10,000 Maniacs - with such hits as “These Are Days” and “Trouble Me” - and followed in the 1990s with a successful solo career, beginning with the hit album, “Tigerlily,” which included “Carnival.” Merchant is preparing to tour the new music, with stops this spring and summer in such cities as Pittsburgh, Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. We keep thinking that we’re moving toward a more just liberal society where women can feel safe, and yet sexual violence against especially young women is higher than it’s been in decades.” ![]() “I think women need a suit of armor these days, as we always have. She chose an image of Joan of Arc - a photo of a sculpture of the young woman in armor with a sword over her heart - as the symbol of courage, a warrior for love. “It reinforces my hope for humanity, and it makes me pause and notice the miracles all around me.” It’s really, really helpful to me, helps me,” Merchant says. The album kicks off with both women singing “Big Girls” and “Come on, Aphrodite.” Other songs include “Sister Tilly,” a loving ode to the trailblazing women of her mother's generation - "Your Rilke poems and your stacks of Mother Jones,” she sings - and “Song of Himself,” a “love letter” to poet Walt Whitman with the lyrics, “Come sing your song of love bold, brave and proud.” “Our voices kind of introduced us to each other.” “It was kind of like our voices met and said, ‘Hey, I know you! We’re friends.’ And then our relationship followed,” Koomson-Davis says, laughing. “I really turn to mythology not to understand what’s happening, but to see a reflection of what’s happening in our contemporary world.”Ībena Koomson-Davis, musical director of The Resistance Revival Chorus, and Merchant first duetted at a Radio City Music Hall benefit for healthcare workers impacted by COVID-19 and instantly felt something click. During the pandemic, it really felt like we were living in the myth,” she says. “It’s very valuable to use cultural references because they carry so much meaning and iconic symbolism. The 10-track collection is rooted in myth and legend, with some songs titled “Come on, Aphrodite,” ”Narcissus," “Tower of Babel” and "The Feast of Saint Valentine.” Joan of Arc graces the cover. “This is kind of a de facto concept record.” “It wasn’t until I wrote the liner notes that I realized how connected all the songs were,” she says from her home in New York's Hudson Valley. The last lines are: “Love will conquer all.” “Keep Your Courage” has some of Merchant's best songwriting, with melodies that veer from Gaelic to Middle Eastern, delving into horn-driven soul, melancholy ballads, pure pop and defiant sisterhood anthems. ![]() And the only thing that really mattered was love. “We all turned inward and held on to each other. It was a health crisis, but also everything was in crisis in the world,” she says. “This album sort of grew out of all that. And yet out of that came not bitterness or anger, but love: The heart-forward new album “Keep Your Courage.” It took nine months to get her voice back and a year to get her hand to behave.
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