Recommendations of the Editorial team
Researching what MRCY could mean, the British duo competes online with a US technology company that produces computer solutions for aerospace and defense. The vibrant retro soul of producer Barney Lister and singer Kojo Degraft-Johnson couldn’t be further away from this field of unrest.
Their songs do address the sources of conflict of our time and combine a longing look back with a courageous connection to the spirit of the times – but they feel more like a warm embrace. A lot of things are sold today under the term Soul. Too often I feel flattered by it. It quickly becomes pleasing, because if it says Neo, there isn’t necessarily anything new in it.
MRCY currently sound like hardly any other soul act
Not so with MRCY, because soul can’t really sound more contemporary and sometimes more subversive (except perhaps for Sault). Every note is right here, R&B, jazz, afrobeat, dub, psychedelia and spoken word combine to form an incredibly electrifying mixture that makes you think of Marvin Gaye just as much as you can hear Anderson Paak clapping on the sidelines. If you don’t believe it, listen to “Lorelei”.
Lister, who started out as a drummer and has also refined the sound of Joy Crookes and Rina Sawayama, provides the complex sound, while Degraft-Johnson fills it with soul through his vulnerable, melting vocals. Their first album, “MRCY Volume 1” was already a statement in 2024 that thrilled people live in the opening act for the Black Pumas. The second edition, released just a year later, sounds even more confident and experimental. “We try to fight fears with optimism and worries with love,” say the two musicians. And then with their song “Man” they also invent the emotional and unwavering man for the 21st century.
MRCY will perform on the festival Saturday. You can find more information about ROLLING STONE Beach here.