John Cale transcends time with unique new album, ‘Mercy’
Since last summer, former Velvet Underground multi-instrumentalist and avant-garde extraordinaire John Cale has been teasing Mercy, his first solo album since 2016’s M: FANS. Though the Welsh singer-songwriter celebrated his 80th birthday last March, he shows no signs of falling behind the times. In fact, this immersive new record is, if anything, ahead of the curve while concurrently presenting sturdy, nostalgic tones of yesteryear, transcending time in the process.
Perhaps the Mercy track that best showcases this nostalgia-meets-modern blend is its lead single, ‘Night Crawling’, or ‘NIGHT CRAWLING’ as the songs are stylised, in keeping with a modern obsession with capitalising entire names. The track brings a catchy, almost danceable electro-beat while Cale sings an ode to New York City in the pre-disco 1970s. In press materials, Cale explained that the song was a fond throwback to times when he and fellow British icon David Bowie would circle the Big Apple at night.
“There was this period around mid-late-70s when David and I would run into each other in NY,” Cale said. “There was plenty of talk about getting some work done, but of course, we’d end up running the streets, sometimes until we couldn’t keep a thought in our heads, let alone actually get a song together!”
“One night, we managed to meet up for a benefit concert where I taught him a viola part so we could perform together,” he added. “When I wrote ‘Night Crawling,’ it was a reflective moment of particular times. That kind of NYC that held art in its grip, strong enough to keep it safe and dangerous enough to keep it interesting. I always figured we’d have another go at the two of us recording together, this time without the interference of being perpetually off our heads! The thing about creating music is the ability to divine a thought or feeling even when reality says it’s a logical impossibility.”
Following the release of ‘Night Crawling’ in August, Cale treated us to two additional preview singles, ‘Story of Blood’ and ‘Noise of You’. For the soaring former, Cale brought in flourishing 34-year-old singer Natalie Merling, better known by her stage name, Weyes Blood. “I’d been listening to Weyes Blood’s latest record and remembered Natalie’s puritanical vocals,” Cale said of his collaboration. “I thought if I could get her to come and sing with me on the ‘Swing your soul’ section and a few other harmonies, it would be beautiful. What I got from her was something else! Once I understood the versatility in her voice, it was as if I’d written the song with her in mind all along. Her range and fearless approach to tonality was an unexpected surprise. There’s even a little passage in there where she’s a dead-ringer for Nico.”
Beyond the trifling overcapitalisation of song names that a petty side of my mind likes to take issue with, this collection of songs is difficult to fault. As one can always expect with Cale, the music hears a diverse arsenal of instruments thanks to his astounding range and compositional experience. For added flavour, Cale called upon some heavy artillery beyond Merling, namely Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso, Laurel Halo, Tei Shi, Actress and Fat White Family.
The tone of the album is generally dark and moody; Cale’s lyrics reflect dystopian angst, which sometimes juxtaposes with more upbeat electronic dance-inspired instrumentals. Elsewhere, like in the atmospheric, brooding Laurel Halo-featuring title track, Cale’s voice meets the subdued tone of the music in pleasing harmony.
In the second song on the album, ‘Marilyn Munroe’s Legs (beauty elsewhere)’, Cale channels his age-old affinity for the avant-garde with a modern twist. As the song progresses, it moves through rumbling, gritty soundscapes not dissimilar from the pioneering work of Burial. Cale’s voice echoes over an ambient backdrop as if in a cathedral while R2-D2 style beeps, orchestral strings, and occasional beats periodically festoon the eerie plotline.
If Merling’s wonderful vocal additions to ‘Story of Blood’ reminded Cale of his late Velvet Underground collaborator, Nico, she had already been on his mind when writing ‘Moonstruck (Nico’s Song)’. The song brings a dark atmosphere characteristic of the album with a viola intro that makes way for synths and Cale’s vocal ode to Nico: “You’re a moonstruck junkie lady/ Staring at your feet/ Breathing words into an envelope/ To be opened on your death,” the first lines read.
In the Sylvan Esso collaboration, ‘Time Stands Still’, Cale periodically embraces the sound of contemporary UK rap music with a trappy beat. Indeed, I’ve heard this sort of beat with spoken word or rap lyrics overlain, but Cale’s powerful, haunting vocals again bring something entirely novel to proceedings.
After highlighting contributions from Fat White Family and Tei Shi, Mercy bows out to the sound of ‘Out Your Window’, a well-positioned piano-driven ballad that boasts Cale’s most profound vocal performance on the album. This intense outro is sure to raise the neck hairs.
Mercy is an impressive mixture of young, old, popular, experimental, day and night. It contains an eclectic spread of familiar styles, all seamlessly arranged under one roof. In this long-awaited release, Cale shows an undying thirst for musical exploration, a sentimental connection to the past, and, perhaps least surprisingly, his virtuosic production and instrumental talents. As a longtime Cale fan, I knew to expect the unexpected heading into this record, and once again, it’s unlike anything I’ve heard before. Hats off!
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