'TIGERLILY' UNCHAINED NATALIE MERCHANT SHEDS HER INHIBITIONS, REVEALING A NEW SOUND, A NEW OUTLOOK ON LIFE.

Byline: Phillip Zonkel Staff Writer

These are the days when Natalie Merchant is mad as hell, and she's not going to take it anymore.

On her latest solo release, ``Motherland,'' the 38-year-old singer-songwriter overtly lashes out at corporate gluttony, ecological destruction and abuse of power. These confrontations are a lyrical change of pace for Merchant.

``I've written social commentary from the beginning (of my music career), but I was becoming so disgusted with the frivolous nature of so much of our culture at a time when I felt that people should be outraged,'' says Merchant, who says the track ``This House Is on Fire'' is a rallying cry to action.

``I actually wrote 'This House Is on Fire' during the (2000 World Trade Organization) protests in Seattle and the presidential-ballot dispute in Florida,'' she says. ``I saw people taking to the streets to find their collective voice and to be heard.''

Merchant's voice will be heard in person when she performs Monday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza and Wednesday and Thursday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

Political viewpoints aside, Merchant says ``Motherland'' is her most confessional release.

``When I was in 10,000 Maniacs, I shied away from writing anything personal because I was representing a group,'' says Merchant, who, in 1993, left the group. ``When I started my own recording career, I just felt like it was more interesting to put some distance between myself and the audience and write about other people.''

``Natalie Merchant has always been one of those artists who has kind of reveled in cryptic poetry. (But) she's spelling it out more than she ever has,'' says Larry Flick, senior talent editor at Billboard. ``The older you get, the less inclined you are to dance around the mulberry bush and just say what you're thinking.''

This time around, Merchant has a lot on her mind. On ``Motherland,'' she also addresses topics ranging from civil rights, as viewed through the lens of a New York Historical Society photography exhibit on lynching, author-illustrator Henry Darger and low self-esteem. It's an eclectic collection, its content influenced by history, literature and art, a style Merchant has drawn upon since her songwriting days with 10,000 Maniacs.

``I'm just trying to share my curiosity with people,'' she says. ``I know I have to perform this music, and I have to be moved by it. I have to remain engaged. When I'm singing 2 1/2 hours a night, 100 nights a year, I just want the song to have the ability to keep me entertained.''

Since leaving 10,000 Maniacs, Merchant has had no shortage of that. Her 1995 triple platinum solo debut, ``Tigerlily,'' spawned hit singles ``Jealousy,'' ``Carnival'' and ``Wonder''; and the 1997 follow-up, ``Ophelia,'' generated ``Kind and Generous.''

For the most part, say industry sources familiar with her career, Merchant's solo days have been a natural progression.

``Her solo career is really an extension of 10,000 Maniacs,'' says KLON program director Rene Engel, who in 1982 as a DJ at KCRW, first played 10,000 Maniacs. ``Musically and lyrically, she just continued to mature. It didn't feel like a group era had ended.''

``She reminds me of Stevie Nicks,'' Flick says. ``She was in this big band that was defined by a very specific sound, and she took her best parts and kept going.''

One of those talents, Engel says, is her poetic songwriting.

``What has always made her stand out was the sense of poetry, not just of the lyrics, but of how things sounded in their musical settings,'' Engel says. ``You could see how the craft of songwriting meshed the musical framework with the poetry. That still makes her unique.''

``Natalie follows her own rhythm, and she has her own muse,'' Flick says. ``There's no one hiding behind the curtain. What you see is what you get.''

NATALIE MERCHANT

Where: Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, 2000 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; and Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Drive, Cerritos.

When: 8 p.m. Monday (Thousand Oaks), 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday (Cerritos).

Tickets: $30 to $40. Call [phone] or www.civicartsplaza.com; [phone] or www.cerritoscenter.com

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``When I was in 10,000 Maniacs, I shied away from writing anything personal because I was representing a group,'' says solo artist Natalie Merchant.