Natalie Merchant's Butterfly, first released as part of the 2017 ten-disc box set The Natalie Merchant Collection and available digitally for the first time on June 25, 2020, is a new studio set featuring four new songs and six reinterpreted selections from her catalog, all arranged for string quartet.

“Since 2010 I’ve performed mainly as soloist with string ensembles and chamber orchestras. I love the subtle emotional quality strings give to my songs and it’s such a pleasure to reinterpret them in this way. In 2015, we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of my first solo album, Tigerlily, with an album featuring string quartet versions of that material; with Butterfly, I was able to give ‘My Skin,’ ‘Frozen Charlotte,’ ‘Ophelia,’ and ‘The Worst Thing’ the same attention,” Merchant says.

“There are four songs on this album that I think represent some of the best writing of my career: the title track, ‘Butterfly,’ ‘She Devil,’ ‘Baby Mine,’ and ‘Andalucía,’” she continues. “Written over a period of twenty years, these songs represent such different phases of my life and career. What they all share is that none of them fit into previous albums or I was unable to capture a performance that did them justice. Listening to them today, I hear how they truly belong together.”

Merchant notes, “We have all found ourselves living through a very frightening period of history. Our rare and exceedingly beautiful planet is in peril and all the creatures (our species included) feel on the brink of chaos. In the face of crisis, we still search for meaning and reach out for beauty. I hope that Butterfly is received as my offering of beauty and meaning for these times and that it gives solace to anyone willing to listen."