John Cale - Mercy

Like Scott Walker's Tilt, John Cale's Mercy is an experimental album in the later part of his career. This album is slow but not boring, haunting but not scary. Like a piece of firewood slowly burning in the furnace, John Cale's voice strays through these 12 mellow tracks. Mercy shows how John Cale grasps the perfect pace for the album. Though collaborating with various artists, the theme of the album is never disrupted (even with Animal Collective). EVERLASTING DAYS and NIGHT CRAWLING are two songs that prove even with slightly fast-paced songs, John Cale can still handle with ease, it's not like his vocal is adaptive to the rhythm or vice versa, it's more like these two elements flow together. At the end of the album, powerful strings and stunning piano are drawing listeners to "the window" as if they are thinking what the protagonist's heart is thinking. Mercy proves that John Cale still at the frontier of the art of music.

Cut: MERCY; TIME STANDS STILL; OUT YOUR WINDOW