Sondre Lerche (; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, musician and actor.

Early life

Growing up in a suburb of Bergen, Lerche was heavily influenced by 1980s pop. He performed in acoustic gigs at the club where his sister worked while he was still under age. His popularity in his home country increased steadily, and, in 2000, he recorded his debut album, Faces Down.

Faces Down was released in 2001, after Lerche finished school. Faces Down was a hit in Norway and received critical praise in Norway and the United States — Rolling Stone Magazine placed it in their top 50 albums of 2002. He released the live/studio collection Don't Be Shallow EP the following year. Devon Powers of Popmatters praised Lerche's "contagious musical sensibilities, exhilarating vigor and downright stupefying songcraft," and noted that "Lerche manages to both push himself and maintain an allegiance to his ways – something artists twice his age have trouble doing."

On 27 February 2006, Duper Sessions was released. The jazz album was recorded in the fall of 2005 with his band the Faces Down and pianist Erik Halvorsen at Duper Studios in Bergen. The album reached No. 21 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.

His 2007 release was Phantom Punch. Lerche and the Faces Down recorded and mixed the album in Los Angeles in April and May 2006, with producer Tony Hoffer.

In September 2009, Lerche released Heartbeat Radio, to critical acclaim. In his review, Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "No matter what genre he's working in – fuzzy garage rock, breezy vocal jazz, acoustic folk-pop – this young Norwegian singer-songwriter crafts catchier choruses than many musicians who’ve been working twice as long as he has." Allmusic Guide's Tim Sendra called Heartbeat Radio Lerche's "best work to date."

In June 2011, Lerche released the self-titled Sondre Lerche, on his own Mona Records. The album was praised by Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Stereogum, Filter, Spin, and Entertainment Weekly among others for its experimentation with contrasting musical sounds. In the studio, Lerche wanted to explore his new creative alliances in Williamsburg, the Brooklyn neighborhood where he'd lived on and off for the previous six years. The album was released on 23 September 2014 on Mona Records. "Bad Law" was released as the main single for the album in May 2014, supported by a music video released that June. On 24 November that year the songs from Pleasure were also released in a stripped down solo version titled Solo Pleasure. Solo Pleasure was released digitally on 14 February 2018.

In April 2022, Lerche released a double album, Avatars of Love. It was followed in 2026 by the album Acrobats.

Other ventures

Acting

Lerche made his musical theatre debut in the Norwegian stage production of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, in which he played the lead role of Christian; the show premiered at Chateau Neuf in Oslo in August 2023. Karen Frøsland Nystøyl of NRK reviewed his performance and wrote that he appeared to be a better singer than an actor, while commenting that his performance improved when sharing the stage with co-star Heidi Ruud Ellingsen. The production as a whole received a perfect 6/6 review from Aftenposten. Lerche's other acting appearances include voice acting in the animated films ' (2015) and Askepote (2024). In December 2025, he appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in the Norwegian mockumentary TV series '.

Writing

As a writer in his native Norwegian, Lerche has published two books containing essays on music, Et slags julekort / Aldri forstumme in 2019, and Alle sanger handler om deg in 2020. The latter was positively reviewed by Gry Elise Jacobsen of NRK, who remarked that the book's 22 essays gave insight into Lerche's inspirations and how he thinks about music. In 2021, Lerche contributed an essay on running to the anthology book Endelig sommer.

Lerche has also published two Norwegian children's books, the Christmas-themed Snømannens jul in 2020, and En flue fløy in 2021. He wrote the text of both books, which were illustrated by Victoria Sandøy.

Personal life

In 2005, Lerche married director and actress Mona Fastvold. They divorced in 2013. Lerche was in a relationship with writer and blogger Linnéa Myhre from 2013 to 2020. His current partner is photographer Hilde Solli, as of 2023.

Lerche returned to Norway in 2020. Prior to that, he lived in Los Angeles and Brooklyn, New York, where he resided from 2005 to 2018.

He is the cousin of Norwegian rapper Lars Vaular. In 2012, they collaborated on the single "Øynene Lukket".

Discography

Studio albums

  • Faces Down (2001)
  • Two Way Monologue (2004)
  • Duper Sessions (2006)
  • Phantom Punch (2007)
  • Heartbeat Radio (2009)
  • Sondre Lerche (2011)
  • Please (2014)
  • Pleasure (2017)
  • Patience (2020)
  • Avatars of Love (2022)
  • Acrobats (2026)

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Work

! Role

! Notes

! class="unsortable" | Ref.

|-

| 2007

| Dan in Real Life

| Self (Wedding Singer)

| Cameo, also soundtrack composer

|

|-

| 2012–15

| The Voice – Norges beste stemme

| Self (Coach)

| Seasons 1–3

|

|-

| 2013

| Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

| Self

| Documentary

|

|-

| 2015

| '

| Pizzatrynet

| Voice

|

|-

| 2024

| Askepote

| Prinsen

| Voice

|

|-

| '

| Self (Fictionalized)

| TV series; 1 episode

|

  • Alternative Pop/Rock Album, Avatars of Love Spellemannprisen (2022)

Notes

References

  • Official website
  • Tiny Desk concert for NPR

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