Sondre Lerche has always been a romantic. Whether it be the songs he wrote as a teen for his critically acclaimed 2001 debut, Faces Down, or starring as the love-lorn Christian in the Norwegian stage production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. In 2026, though, his love of, well, love is shot through with a kind of defiance.
“There’s a dissonance between the increasingly dystopian world we live in and finding beauty and peace in your private life,” he says. “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 terrible things that are happening in the world.”
The result is Lerche’s 11th studio album, Acrobats, an eight-song suite that pingpongs between joy and introspection, loss and love. Recorded across nine studios with a gaggle of creatives, it’s a perhaps more sobering followup up 2022’s Avatars of Love — although no less brimming with passion.
“If there’s one theme to this album, I suppose it is finding love in times of great unrest and hopelessness,” Lerche says. And that’s precious.
Night Heron, the musical project helmed by former Radiation City frontman Cameron Spies, former Y La Bamba bassist Grace Bugbee, and former Reptaliens drummer Tyler Verigin, crafts intimate soundscapes that exist in the space between whispers and dreams. Their debut album “Instructions for Night” emerged from personal transformation and global isolation, featuring distinctive ASMR-like vocals and carefully constructed sonic textures. Following up with their sophomore album “Escapism,” Night Heron continues to explore life’s quiet moments, weaving between dreamy morning reflections and twilight contemplations. Joined by accomplished musicians from Portland’s indie scene (including members of Y La Bamba, Reptaliens, and Weeed), Night Heron creates music that invites listeners to lean in closer, finding universal meaning in life’s most intimate moments.
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