For Natalie’s second solo release, Ophelia, she experimented with string arrangements, horns, percussion and collaborating with a wide array of musicians: African guitarist and singer Lokua Kanza, jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, British composer Gavin Bryars, Tibetan devotional singer Yungchen Lhamo, singer-songwriter and guitarist Daniel Lanois (producer of U2, Emmy Lou Harris, Neil Young, etc.), soul singer N’dea Davenport of The Brand New Heavies, Don and Karen Peris of The Innocence Mission, Craig Ross and George Laks (guitarist and keyboardist with Lenny Kravitz).

For the album package, Natalie collaborated with photograph by Mark Seliger (Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair) to bring to life six different female characters described in the title track of the album. They also created a short film together (with co-director Fred Woodward) in which the characters dialogued in several different languages, sang and danced. The human cannonball character was later revived for a circus-themed music video for the most popular song on Ophelia, “Kind & Generous.”

“Filled with exquisite moments…” — Sunday Times

“The arrangements on Ophelia are magnificent … they don’t try to compete with Merchant’s stunning voice. Quite a feat, when you look at the list of collaborators … this is heart-rending stuff with a soonsome musical backdrop.” — Time Out

Ophelia was self-produced and primarily recorded Natalie’s home studio in Upstate New York with engineer, Tod Vos and mixed by Jim Scott.