On April 9, 2010, “Nonesuch” label released “Leave Your Sleep”, the fifth Natalie Merchant studio album. It was recorded July 2008 – May 2009, and was produced by Nathalie Merchant and Andres Levin.

Personnel:

• Natalie Merchant – vocals, Introduction, orchestration, string arrangements, arranger
• Amanda Barrett – vocals
• Joseph Thompson – vocals
• Kimberly Miller – vocals
• Joanne Williams – vocals
• Joe Rice – vocals
• Katell Keineg – vocals
• Abby DeWald – vocals
• Isaac Freeman – vocals
• Edward Hall – vocals
• Robert Hamlett – vocals
• Kevin Crawford – vocals, bodhran, flute, low whistle, tin whistle
• John Roberts – concertina, voices
• John Medeski – piano
• Dan Nimmer – piano
• Bobby Wood – piano, Wurlitzer
• Artis Wodehouse – pump organ
• Dieter Hennings – Baroque guitar, acoustic guitar, lute, theorbo
• Paul Morrisset – bass guitar, baritone horn
• Paul Meehan – acoustic guitar
• Andy Bassford – guitar
• Reggie Young – guitar
• Gabriel Gordon – guitar
• Erik Della Penna – guitar
• Michael Gomez – lap steel guitar, dobro
• Pete Smith – electric guitar, banjo
• Doug Wamble – guitar, banjo
• Richie Stearns – banjo
• Horace James – keyboards
• Bobby Emmons – Hammond organ
• Trevor Hutchinson – upright bass
• Mark Murphy – upright bass
• Greg Cohen – bass
• Chris Wood – bass
• Hoova Simpson – bass
• Jeremy McCoy – bass
• Carlos Henríquez – bass
• Michael Leech – bass
• Marc Friedman – bass
• William Barrett – chromatic harmonica
• Uri Sharlin – accordion
• Lorin Sklamberg – accordion
• Dan Aran – drums, percussion
• Richie Barshay – snare drums, poyk, frame drum
• Joseph Fire Crow – drums, native American flute, rattles, spoken word
• Sterling Campbell – drums
• Rich Huntley – drums
• Billy Martin – drums
• Gene Chrisman – drums
• Paul Sutton – drums
• Erik Charlston – percussion
• Larry McDonald – percussion
• Minyoung Baik – violin
• Sharon Yamada – violin
• Anne Lehmann – violin
• Arnaud Sussmann – violin
• Lisa Kim – violin
• Matt Lehmann – violin
• Sandra Park – violin
• Shan Jiang – violin
• Karen Dreyfus – viola
• Robert Rinehart – viola
• Motomi Igarashi – viola da gamba
• Greg Heffernan – cello
• Eileen Moon – cello
• Jeanne LeBlanc – cello
• Mihail Jojatu – cello
• Owen Young – cello
• Alberto Parrini – cello
• Ina Zdorovetchi – harp
• Deidre Rodman – harpsichord
• Lisa Gutkin – fiddle
• Judy Hyman – fiddle
• Sean Smyth – fiddle
• Cillian Vallely – low whistle, uillean pips
• Bill Spence – Hammer dulcimer
• Jessica Lizak – flute
• Daniel Grabois – horn
• Frank London – alto horn, trumpet
• Wynton Marsalis – trumpet, arranger
• Eddie Allen – trumpet
• Wayne Jackson – trumpet
• Brian McWhorter – trumpet
• Pam Fleming – trumpet
• Jon Nelson – trumpet
• Michael Leonhart – trumpet, horn arrangements
• Joseph Daley – tuba
• Kyle Turner – tuba
• Raymond G. Stewart – tuba
• Sherry Sylar – oboe
• Jack Hale – trombone
• Benjamin Herrington – trombone
• Wycliffe Gordon – trombone
• Birch Johnson – tenor trombone
• Mike Davis – tenor trombone
• George Flynn – bass trombone
• Clark Gayton – trombone, horn arrangements
• Dan Levine – alto horn, bass trombone, tuba
• Marc Goldberg – bassoon
• Bruce Creditor – clarinet
• Gilad Harel – clarinet
• Victor Goines – clarinet
• Matt Darriau – alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
• Lino Gomez – bass clarinet
• Steve Elson – baritone saxophone, B-flat clarinet, clarinet
• Michelle Baker – French horn
• Erik Ralske – French horn
• Howard Wall – French horn
• Phil Myers – French horn
• Jim Spake – saxophone, horn arrangements
• Walter Blanding – saxophone
• Gerald Johnson – saxophone
• Stephen Barber – arranger, string arrangements, orchestration
• Sean O’Loughlin – string arrangements, orchestration
• Sun Li – pipa
• Wang Guo Wei – erhu
• Weng Po Wei – dizi
• Jennifer Kreisberg – chant
• Nina Stern – recorder, chalumeau
• Nick Brophy – engineer
• Steve Rosenthal – mixing
• Joseph Martin Kronheim – illustrations
• David Pearson – design
• Mark Seliger – cover photography
• Matthew Brady – photography
• Charles Ritzmann – photography
• Marion Ettlinger – photography
• Edward Weston – photography
• Sebastian Peake – photography
• Ben Pinchot – photography

Track listing:

Leave Your Supper

1. Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience
2. Equestrienne
3. Calico Pie
4. Bleezer’s Ice – Cream
5. It Makes a Change
6. The King of China’s Daughter
7. The Dancing Bear
8. The Man in the Wilderness
9. Maggie and Milly and Molly and May
10. If No One Ever Marries Me
11. The Sleepy Giant
12. The Peppery Man
13. The Blind Men and the Elephant

Leave Your Sleep

1. Adventures of Isabel
2. The Walloping Window Blind
3. Topsyturvey-World
4. The Janitor’s Baby
5. Griselda
6. The Land of Nod
7. Vain and Careless
8. Crying, My Little One
9. Sweet and a Lullaby
10. I Saw a Ship A – Sailing
11. Autumn Lullaby
12. Spring and Fall: to a Young Child
13. Indian Names