Lerche's music is too indie to make it on commercial radio in the United States.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

Before long, Lerche was writing his own songs, and by age 16 he had a record deal.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

He started taking guitar lessons at the age of 8, but classical music "wasn't for me, " Lerche says.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

Americans who happen on Lerche's music may come to appreciate the wonderful variety of arrangements spanning his four-CD output.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

Lerche bargained his guitar teacher into letting him learn Brazilian music instead.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

"I really felt like doing something that would be more physical and more energetic than what I'd done before, " Lerche says of the new album.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

Sondre Lerche was supposed to learn classical music when he was growing up in Bergen, a rainy little city on the southwest coast of Norway.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

In "Airport Taxi Reception, " the first song on Lerche's latest CD, Phantom Punch, it's clear Lerche is not playing your average rock chords or rhythms.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans

Lerche, 24, writes good, quirky but strong pop melodies.

NPR: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a Pop Find for Americans