Mary Gauthier
Mercy Now

THE REVIEW

I am writing this review while listening to the album...
A pearl, truly, a real pearl in the new female country singer-songwriter scene.

Following in the footsteps of Lucinda Williams but much grittier and "cursed", Mary sings to us with a hiss her stories of losers and outcasts... the atmospheres are desert-like in the introductory "Falling Out Of Love", narrating the end of a love consumed between seedy motels and kissing behind dusty diners.
Her voice crackles as if filtered through an old tube radio... the car sets off again on the velvet cloth of "Mercy Now": practically a classic worthy of the late Johnny Cash, with its simple and direct language and equally impactful chord progression.
"Wheel Inside The Wheel" is a Delta blues that burns like the wheat fields in Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven", while the slide guitar takes you through the ferns and in the distance you see the stripe of fire, Uncle Johnny's deadly ring of fire.
The baton is passed to "I Drink" with its resigned chorus: "Birds fly, fish swim, old men sit here and think, I drink...", irresistible.
Another touching gem of the album is "Empty Spaces": here Gauthier's voice is truly a sting driven into the heart... it’s been a while since I felt such emotions listening to a female voice sweetly suggesting her lyrics from my stereo. Very, very beautiful.

Seek out this album, even if the genre isn't precisely your cup of tea, because it's a small masterpiece of American songwriting from the new generation.