MRCY have today shared their debut project, VOLUME 1, which is available now on Dead Oceans. Featuring brand new single ‘California’.
Stream VOLUME ONE: https://MRCY.lnk.to/VOLUME-1
VOLUME 1 immediately marks MRCY out as one of the year’s most exciting new acts. Its 8 tracks showcase a timeless musical maturity, but also Barney and Kojo’s ability to speak directly to the challenges – and the joys – of everyday life. Whether working through grief (‘Flowers In Mourning’), ruminating on lost love (‘Lorelei’) or savouring the simple pleasures (‘R.L.M’), the Volume drops alongside new single ‘California’: a wistful, psychedelic meditation on the appearance and the reality of city life. The band comment: “California’ is actually about London, but more specifically the night-and-day perception of somewhere beyond the surface. For the most part they might seem like decent places to live, but you’ll see struggle, hardship, poverty and mental warfare right alongside lives that are flourishing. ‘California’ is about feeling powerless to help even in a place that claims to be one of opportunity.”
Although formidably accomplished for a first project, MRCY have clearly hustled hard to make work in their own voice. Born amidst Huddersfield’s melting-pot culture, Barney has established himself as one of the UK’s most in-demand, eclectic young producers, ranging from an Ivor Novello Award for his long-standing collaboration with Obongjayar to Mercury-nominated artists like Joy Crookes and Olivia Dean. Just last month, Barney snagged yet another Ivor Novello nomination for his songwriting contributions to METTE’s hit single ‘Mama’s Eyes’. South London-raised Kojo, meanwhile, earned his stripes in church as well as singing with equally-illustrious homegrown artists Cleo Sol, Little Simz and Jungle. They first connected over Instagram during the pandemic, writing ‘R.L.M’ on their very first day together between restrictive local lockdowns in Brixton and realizing that they were embarking on something special. Today, their vision of Soul through the looking-glass draws inspiration ranging from childhood greats (Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye) to Afrobeats, Dub, and genre-melding modernists like Khruangbin or Sault – “it’s like hearing a distant memory,” Barney says, “but one that speaks to where you are now”.
For Barney and Kojo, MRCY is as much about putting yourself first as it is the spirit of compassion, empathy and m(e)rcy that has never felt more needed. VOLUME 1 is bound by a striking visual aesthetic made in collaboration with Harris Elliot which warps AI, Adinkra symbolism and British iconography into a look – and sound – that is already recognisably their own. As its title hints, there are also plans for an ensuing second volume of MRCY, with the duo continuing to produce tracks that not only give Barney and Kojo a place to belong, but their listeners a space to feel, heal and be themselves.
Praise for MRCY:
“Perhaps the most exciting new act to appear from the UK this year so far” Wonderland
“Psychedelic soul at its most ensnaring” Sunday Times
“Ambitious, emotionally charged…helps us fathom life’s confusion” NME
“A rare musical chemistry…smooth and softly experimental” Rolling Stone
“Triumphant and dynamic…MRCY are quickly landing themselves on every music enthusiast’s radar”” Clash
“Baton-carriers of genre-bending contemporary soul” DIY
Stream VOLUME ONE: https://MRCY.lnk.to/VOLUME-1
VOLUME 1 – Tracklist
- ‘R.L.M’
- ‘Lorelei’
- ‘Purple Canyon’
- ‘Days Like This’
- ‘California’
- ‘Flowers In Mourning’
- ‘Powerless’
- ‘Seven Candles’
