MRCY are producer Barney Lister and vocalist Kojo Degraft-Johnson. Hailing from different ends of England and disparate cultures theirs is a space of soulful self-expression that combines the timeless warmth & social consciousness of Marvin Gaye with the genre-melding modern sensibility of Anderson .Paak, Leon Bridges & Sault. “It’s like hearing a distant memory,” Barney says. “But one that speaks to where you are now.”
MRCY first connected over Instagram in the pandemic before meeting up IRL in Brixton, where they immediately found common ground in their time spent hustling behind the scenes. Hailing from Huddersfield’s thriving soundsystem culture, Barney has established himself as one of the UK’s most in-demand producers, with collaborations ranging from Ivor-Award-winning work with Obongjayar to Mercury-nominated records with Joy Crookes and Olivia Dean. South London-raised Kojo, meanwhile, earned his stripes in church as well as singing with equally-illustrious homegrown artists like Cleo Sol and Little Simz. MRCY’s music reverberates with individual perspectives, but also reminds how those common experiences of graft, grit and abandon have always been able to bring crowds – or a new band – together through tough times.
Debut single ‘Lorelei’ exemplifies MRCY’s method of viewing Soul through the contemporary looking glass. Their upcoming project, VOLUME 1, artfully combines musical weight, commanding vocals and otherworldly touches to produce songs that feel as personal as they are deeply universal. For Barney and Kojo, the band is as much about putting yourself first as it is the spirit of compassion, empathy and m(e)rcy that has never felt more needed. Soul, says Barney, is “good people making music that matters.” And from the very first line of standout single ‘R.L.M.’ – “London rain on the window / I don’t care where we’re gonna go / I’m good with you” – MRCY offer a blissful respite from and an intoxicating soundtrack to the madness, the magic, of the everyday.
