Natalie Bergman Releases Mercy, Debut Solo Album on Third Man Records

Today, Natalie Bergman releases Mercy, an album of twelve sublime and spiritual songs that she wrote, performed, produced and mixed herself...because she absolutely had to. As the first project the Wild Belle artist has created and released under her own name, Mercy is a "moving tour-de-force" (SPIN), closing the loop on a solitary and profoundly sad chapter of her life that first began in October 2019. From experiencing an unthinkable family tragedy to spending weeks in silence at a monastery in the desert, the music of Mercy showed Natalie Bergman her greatest purpose, and provided her the hope to come back to life. Now, channeling the cleansing sounds of psychedelic soul, '60s pop and traditional gospel, she opens the portal to the LP's "land of milk and honey" (The FADER), and invites listeners to "find sanctuary in the soft and swaying rhythms" (NYLON).

Listen to Mercy, out everywhere via Third Man Records:

https://orcd.co/nataliebergmanmercy 

Watch Natalie Bergman and the Chicago Children's Choir perform the album's mission statement, "Talk To The Lord," in a surreal, Sesame Street- and Sol LeWitt-inspired video debuted with the Recording Academy this week: https://youtu.be/ZiF00st9MYU

Mercy has earned early praise from the likes of Aquarium Drunkard, BUST, KCRW, MOJO, Uncut and many more. In a new profile, The Times calls it "otherworldly...an example of the power of art to transform pain into something positive, even celebratory."

Natalie Bergman will discuss her journey to Mercy in an interview on NPR Weekend Edition tomorrow, and will have more to share next week, including a striking new addition to a series of multimedia music videos she has unveiled over the past several months. Revisit "Talk To The Lord," "Shine Your Light On Me" and "Home At Last."

Praise for Mercy

"A moving tour-de-force, a modern gospel journey infused with exquisite melodies, a touch of psychedelia, and a lot of soul"

SPIN

 "Otherworldly...an example of the power of art to transform pain into something positive, even celebratory"

The Times

"Step inside Natalie Bergman's land of milk and honey, a place where there's more than enough salvation to go around"

The FADER

"A remarkable act of spiritual resilience"

Uncut, 8/10 

"Powerful enough to turn even the staunchest of atheists toward the light"

Monster Children

"Bergman's off-beam voice hits the same indefinable receptors as Joanna Newsom or Amy Winehouse"

MOJO, 4/5 

"Find sanctuary in the soft and swaying rhythms of Natalie Bergman's lightly psychedelic hymns"

NYLON

"While Mercy began as a desperate prayer, the end result sounds like salvation"

BUST

"A psychedelic spin on vintage gospel-soul"

BrooklynVegan

"Turns personal tragedy into comfort"

KCRW 

"Hypnotic...wraps around you like a warm desert wind"

MTV News

"Marries psychedelia and gospel, drawing inward to fill her ghostly psalms with beauty and power"

Aquarium Drunkard

"Phenomenal...reminds us of when we discovered Amy Winehouse's ageless sonic universe - Mercy might very well be the yang to Back to Black's yin"

Shindig!, 5/5

"[Bergman's] songs are an expression of what it's taken to remain upright in life given all that's attempted to tear her down"

American Songwriter

"Heavenly"

Refinery29

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