Natalie Merchant: mother superior

With songs about female poverty, teenage pregnancy – and now motherhood – the American singer-songwriter is an unlikely pop sensationOn a bench in Holland Park, London, the sun hot on our shoulders, singer Natalie Merchant and I are watching a peacock try to attract a mate. His feathers fan out, his bottom waggles, he hops from foot to foot and screeches. The peahens peck around, rarely looking up, except to register a wince of irritation. "Look at that!" says Merchant. "Where I live I have...

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