I am scheduled to interview Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday. Lerche is in the middle of an east-coast tour, and as the hour arrives, I hunker down at my desk with a magazine, anticipating the usual problems (late phone call, crappy connection, tight time constraints). But just as I settle in, the phone rings — right on time.

Mellow and soft-spoken, Lerche chats from New York City, where he is hanging out prepping for his gig at the Bowery Ballroom.

“I’m definitely playing some new songs,” he says. “It’s sort of a mini-tour to try out the new ones. I always have a great time in Boston, so I really wanted to get a Saturday night there.”

And a Saturday night in Beantown he shall have — Lerche will drop by the Paradise tomorrow night, where he promises a “dynamic, hilarious, and intense” performance.

The crooner played the same venue last November during the end of a promotional swing for his fourth album, Phantom Punch — an uncharacteristic offering that shed pop charm for harder rock sounds.

“I like playing here because people have an easy time getting into things,” he confesses. “People really show it here. They are good at responding, and they’re more vocal. It’s especially helpful during solo shows, when you’re up there by yourself.”

“Two Way Monologue” Sondre Lerche

 

“Phantom Punch” Sondre Lerche

Don’t feel too bad, though, ladies — he isn’t always on his own. Lerche often plays with his band The Faces Down, and has toured twice with life-long idol Elvis Costello. He also collaborated with Regina Spektor on the single Hell No.

After some heavy persuasion, Lerche took on the role of composer for the film Dan In Real Life, starring Steve Carell and Juliette Binoche. The terms “Norwegian indie-pop star” and “film composer” aren’t exactly PB&J, so how did Lerche pull it off?

“I wonder that myself,” he says. “I’d never scored a movie before. I was asked by the
director, who said he was a big fan, to do the music for a film he was writing. He convinced me to do it, so I worked with him throughout the writing process. I worked with the actors, too, which I’d never done before. It was a lucky break.”

The Dan in Real Life soundtrack generated some great buzz and critical acclaim. Lerche says that he usually enjoys reading reviews and likes to check up on what the critics have to say, but one print column still has him perplexed.

“The album did pretty good with [Rolling Stone], but the one thing I really remember is that they said that I looked like Britney Spears’ younger brother.”

“Was that a compliment?”

“I didn’t know,” he laughs. “I still don’t know.”