Sit in a room when Mercy Bell is singing, and you know you’re experiencing something special. Bell’s songs are deeply intimate, asking us to bear witness to her lowest lows and soaring heights. So it makes sense that for her new album, Golden Child, which is out tomorrow, Bell is turning the focus away from herself and creating character sketches — a la ’90s country. With J.R. Bohannon at the helm for this one, Bell’s pulling out all the big guns to make sure these erstwhile characters have the musical firepower that’s their due.
In this interview, Mercy fills us in on the album and some the greatest honor of her life.
Explain the title of your album.
It’s the first song on the album. My co-writers, Sumiko Sprinkle and Cameron Newby, and I were discussing how much people hide themselves and how wounding that is. If we all were more transparent we’d realize that nobody is a “Golden Child.” I think that vulnerability would make everyone a little more connected, less lonely.
Does your album have an overarching theme?
Yes: stories. Told in a 90’s country fashion. 90s country was this really fun era of pop hooks with incredible lyrics. So we wanted to tell real people’s stories. I wanted to paint characters who were struggling, human, funny, real. None of these characters are perfect Golden Children, so to speak, but they all have something important to teach us. I also wanted to tell stories that were a little more intricate than is usually allowed in mainstream pop or rock. Folk and country and roots music embraces it a little more.
Have you ever been given something remarkable by a fan?
All three of my albums have been (primarily) crowdfunded, so they’ve given me my albums. My fans have been my record label. They’re patrons of the arts. I kind of feel like a one-woman NPR or PBS, supported by listeners and viewers, and I honestly think it’s been the honor of a lifetime. But, I get a lot of messages from fans saying that my music helped them through a hard time, through a family death or mental health crisis. That never ceases to move me. We’re not alone. I know how it feels to feel alone and I don’t want anyone else to feel that way, especially when there’s other people out there who’ve lived the same things we have.
Who would you love to collaborate with? why?
Am I allowed to say Beyonce and Rihanna and Taylor Swift? Cuz that’s real. Hahaha. So many awesome songwriters. Jack Antonoff, Janelle Monae, Tove Lo, Sza, Sia, St. Vincent come to mind. Patty Griffin, Kacey Musgraves, Jenny Lewis, Sufjan Stevens, Regina Spektor, on the more folksy/indie side of things. I love pop music and strong pop songwriting with an edge. But that sly edge. You don’t know they’re being edgy until you get hit by it. They all do it a little differently. Melodically and lyrically they’re all charming, seductive and subversive songwriters. That’s some power. It’s poetry in motion.
Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off?
Well, I’d love to make enough money doing music to not have to work 2 – 3 jobs at once. I’m 36, I’ve been hustling and working multiple jobs and doing music on the side for 12 years and I am tired and spread really thin. Other than that, I would love to just write songs and make money that way! I think it’d be the pinnacle of fun to wake up every day and write songs and just ship them off to other people to produce and perform and pay the bills that way. I have a lot of ideas that I think other musicians and producers could execute well. Give me a coffee and a bagel and pay my rent for me and I will write you some lyrics and hooks till my voice is hoarse.
Golden Child will be available on all platforms tomorrow, August 6th.
Mercy Bell — Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify