With the use of stories and simple acoustic instruments, the new tour features glimpses of modern life through the filter of love songs, animal communication, synthetic language, and techno burnout.

“After using a lot of technology for years, I’m trying to work with as little equipment as possible,” Anderson said. “Also, I’ve been experimenting with putting myself in extremely unfamiliar and awkward situations so this piece will include a kind of report of these experiences.”

Just before she set out for her fall tour, Anderson released Laurie Anderson: Life On A String. The album features her violin work and singing, and is a marked departure to the original plan to include pieces from her theatrical production, “Songs And Stories From Moby Dick.”

After working on that show for two years, Anderson said she was ready for a break from the “smelly old sailors and their problems.”

In addition to touring, she has been working on a film score that will be presented by the Musee Art Contemporian Lyon in France next year, and an arts pavilion in Switzerland that is scheduled to open in the summer.

The tour heads out January 30 with a two-night stand in Santa Barbara. Anderson has shows scheduled through the end of June, with three commitments to follow in late October.