Yamagata is preparing to release not one, but two albums under the combined title A Record in Two Parts: Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart and hit the road in support.

The singer will launch her trek September 20 at Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, N.J., and will hit clubs scattered across the country before wrapping things up by joining the Hotel Café Tour for a pair of New York shows: October 30 at Bowery Ballroom in New York City and November 1 at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

Other stops include Diesel Club Lounge in Pittsburgh (September 21), Joe’s Pub in New York City (September 25-26), Chop Suey in Seattle (October 4), and Café Du Nord in San Francisco (October 6).

Tickets for Yamagata’s headlining shows are available at Ticketmaster.com, along with tickets for most Hotel Café Tour shows.

Yamagata explained the two-part Elephants and Teeth, due October 7, somehow grew naturally out of the songwriting and recording process.

“I didn’t set out to make a two part album,” the singer said. “We just followed the songs’ lyrical lead and built them up with textures and sounds that served the story.

“The beautiful ones were darker and worked with lush arrangements. We used the sounds of rain, tree branches falling on the roof – whatever kept the mood true to this haunted studio in the first stormy days of spring.

“The second part became more anthemic, like a reclaiming of personal power. There’s something raw about it. To me it sounds weathered, but not broken or cynical.”

Yamagata said the two albums taken together serve as a complete timeline of emotions for a complicated relationship and the accompanying fallout.

“Elephants is much more intimate. It’s about being willing to take a risk even if it’s not going to end up well.

“Teeth is like rediscovering you backbone after you’ve gone through the loss.”

Listen to “Elephants” from Elephants

Listen to “Sidedish Friend” from