Jen Steele

Los Angeles-based singer Sondre Lerche has released his new album Patience, his ninth overall.

Wandering between playful moments and more intimate sounds, the record is a whimsical and captivating effort, described as a "spiritual companion" to his 2017 album Pleasure and 2014's Please. It's also Lerche's first album since he relocated to L.A. after living in New York City for over a decade, although it was mostly recorded back home in Norway.

"The inspiration behind the theme and feeling of the album comes from the sense of space and time I associate with ambient music and minimalism," he says. "Ever since Pleasure came out in 2017, I’ve been running a lot, and I listen to mainly abstract music that helps me lose sense of time and structure when I run, what I refer to as 'patient music.'"

He continues: "Performing the flamboyant and intense Pleasure show 140 times in one year got me into athleticism, and made me passionate about running. Before this, I never did anything remotely athletic in my life. After Pleasure I felt like slowing down everything in my life. I stopped touring for the first time since I was 18. I moved to L.A., and I just focused on writing. I needed to make soothing music."

In conjunction with Bandcamp's decision to waive its share of sales today, Lerche is donating 50% of all album sales to WP4BL (White People 4 Black Lives), an organization working in solidarity and coalition with the L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter.

Hear Patience below.