Volume 2 (Limited Yellow Vinyl LP)

In dark and difficult times, the music of Barney Lister and Kojo Degraft-Johnson lifts us up. As MRCY, across the eight tracks of VOLUME 2, they deliver on their premise of emotive music that surprises as much as it comforts, referencing timeless sounds as much as a sense of the cutting edge. If their debut release, 2024's VOLUME 1, which blended Kojo's ecstatic vocals and Barney's masterful analogue production, showcased MRCY's lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry, VOLUME 2 builds from there to a collection that is more sophisticated, thematic, and definitely more modern, exploring love, self-discovery, and healing.

"We're trying to extinguish fear with optimism and worry with love," Barney says, on confronting the many crises of modern life in their new release. "VOLUME 2 breaks the mould to present a bigger picture of who we are - something with angst, surprises and more guts."

Opening numbers "Angels" and "Wanna Know (Ontario)" draw on a classic MRCY feel with their infectious grooves, soaring group harmonies and warm uplifting horns, harnessing Kojo's flawless falsetto in an emotive introspection that yearns for a better future or for the affection of another.

Yet, as the record progresses, MRCY launches into unexpected sounds and new themes. On "Man", Kojo sings about the challenges of modern masculinity and questions the ways that men can change for the better over an energetic afrobeat polyrhythms and a jazz-inflected flute solo. "Being a man in this world is complicated and it can feel like a battle to stay open and kind," Kojo explains. "That's why the track has that driving battle groove and the lines 'Move out the dark and lead with light/Fight for the love a thousand times' because we need to come together to make ourselves change for the better."

Standout number "Flicker" sees Kojo sing about the temptation to give yourself emotionally to people who don't deserve it over a Ghanaian highlife riff and a dancefloor-filling bassline.