Mercy Now

Mary Gauthier

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2005)
• Original Release Date: February 15, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B000765IS6
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,360 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A spark of redemption illuminates even the darker songs on Mercy Now, the fourth album by Mary Gauthier (pronounced "go-shay"). The influence of her native Louisiana pervades her Southern Gothic songcraft, which first won an audience in the folk clubs of Boston. After a series of releases on independent labels, her Lost Highway debut seems destined to expand that audience significantly. Within her mature, weather-beaten artistry, Dylanesque metaphysics go to Mardi Gras on "Wheel Inside the Wheel"; the naked emotion and eye for detail of "Your Sister Cried" and "Empty Spaces" conjure comparisons with Lucinda Williams; and the plainspoken "I Drink" and "Drop in a Bucket" have the bittersweet bite of the best of John Prine. The spare arrangements of producer/guitarist Gurf Morlix, punctuated by cello, organ, and harmonica, give the material plenty of room to breathe. Gauthier's vocals are half-spoken, half-sung, and all soul. --Don McLeese

Entertainment Weekly - B+
The beauty of Gauthier's country noir lies in the humanity of her characters and in the yerning of her drawl.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Just say she's a rhymer, and rhymers get restless", March 12, 2005

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

I am probably the last person you would expect to be enthusiastic over what is billed as a 'country' album. Whatever that is. But, for some reason, I've heard 'Mercy Now' four times in the past five days, and if country music always sounded like that song, I would be listening to a whole lot more of it. I would call Gauthier's work country/folk and the in name for that definition seems to be Southern Gothic, a genre name that doesn't make a whole lot sense to me. But the songs on this album, they make sense to me, as they would to anyone who loves carefully crafted, gritty lyrics.

Yes, these are often dark songs. Yet somehow the upbeat peeks through almost unexpectedly. Mercy Now and Prayer Without Words are good examples of that. In other words, they may be sad, but they aren't hopeless, and that little bit of a hook will grab you every time. There is a subtle spirituality here as well - listen to Wheel Inside The Wheel, for example:

Souls ain't born, souls don't die
Soul ain't made of earth, ain't made of water, ain't made of sky
So, ride the flaming circle, wind the golden reel
And roll on, brother, in the wheel inside the wheel

This is interesting work, even if, at its heart it is still about broken relationships, human disasters, being down and out, etc. And there is intelligence behind the lyrics, and a real artistry behind the songs. Give it a listen and you'll see what I mean.

Gauthier has a true Southern whiskey voice, complete with edgy whine. And yet it is capable of a surprising number of colors, from really down and out to gently caring, and oh yes, just a dash of pointed sarcasm. I Drink is a masterpiece of the latter. In an interview, Gauthier mentioned that she often rewrites a song several hundred times, and this level of craftsmanship shows everywhere.

This will probably be my one and only country album, but it is surely one I'll listen to often.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting better all the time., February 16, 2005

By	The Culchie. (Dublin, Ireland.) - See all my reviews

If you thought her last album "Filth & Fire" was good, you won't be disappointed with this one. The opening track has shades of Leonard Cohen but it does lighten up (a little!) from there on. Almost all my favourite recent albums share the same producer, the ubiquitous Gurf Morlix.

Great lyrics and a variety of musical influences from Harlan Howard to Lucinda Williams. After four playings, I cannot name a single weak track on this superb album.

Please visit us in Ireland soon, Mary.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mary's best...again, October 14, 2005

By	D. Greene "Lifelong Red Sox fan" (Maynard, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Two admissions at the outset: First, my wife and I have known Mary Gauthier since the beginning of her singing career in the Boston area. Also, I like folk music but I hate hate hate hate weepy, slide-guitar country. Always have. Those said, I can't express sufficiently in words how terrific an album this is. I thought Filth and Fire (Mary's previous album) had been her best. It was, until Mercy Now. The title song is achingly gorgeous, and this and the rest of the album showcase perfectly Mary's increasing musical maturity. She's admittedly not for everyone. Mary will be the first to tell you that she's never written a happy song in her life, and if the downbeat nature of her music isn't your taste that's understandable enough. For anyone who's never heard her music before, though, her dead honest lyrics and absolutely unique voice, with Gurf Morlix's producing expertise, make Mercy Now one of the best albums of 2005 and an ideal way to hear Mary Gauthier (pronounced GoSHAY) for the first time.