John Cale has released the first song from his upcoming album, Mercy. You can watch the video for “Story of Blood,” which features indie singer-songwriter Weyes Blood, below.
“I’d been listening to Weyes Blood’s latest record and remembered Natalie’s puritanical vocals,” Cale said in a statement. (Weyes Blood is the performing name of Natalie Laura Mering.) “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.”
Mercy includes 12 tracks and arrives on Jan. 20. It marks Cale’s first album of original music in more than a decade; his last original work was 2012’s Shifty Adventures in Nookie Wood, which was followed in 2016 by M:FANS, an LP consisting of new versions of songs from Cale’s 1982 album Music for a New Society. Other guests on the upcoming LP include Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso and Laurel Halo.
Cale, who co-founded the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed, has released 16 solo albums, composed dozens of soundtracks and film scores, and has produced artists like the Stooges, Patti Smith, Squeeze and Ian Hunter.
Mercy will be released in LP, CD and digital formats. There will also be a special Domino Mart edition with transparent blue vinyl and a 16-page accompanying booklet, plus a 7″ pressing featuring two exclusive tracks, “Pretty People” and another version of the album’s title track featuring drummer Tony Allen. The track listing is below.
John Cale, ‘Mercy’ Track Listing
1. “Mercy feat. Laurel Halo”
2. “Marilyn Monroe’s Legs (beauty elsewhere) feat. Actress”
3. “Noise of You”
4. “Story of Blood feat. Weyes Blood”
5. “Time Stands Still feat. Sylvan Esso”
6. “Moonstruck (Nico’s Song)”
7. “Everlasting Days feat. Animal Collective”
8. “Night Crawling”
9. “Not the End of the World”
10. “I Know You’re Happy feat. Tei Shi”
11.”The Legal Status of Ice feat. Fat White Family”
12. “Out Your Window”
Seven Inch
1. “Pretty People”
2. “Mercy feat. Tony Allen”
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