JOHN CALE

Mercy (Double Six)

Avant-garde experimentalist John Cale left Wales for the bright lights and dirt of 1960s New York – first to play viola with La Monte Young’s Dream Syndicate, thereafter with The Velvet Underground and going on to make 16 daring, out-there and resonant solo albums, numerous collaborations, and producing for Nico, Patti Smith and The Stooges.

His 17th album Mercy is a deeply affective creation, immersed in dark electronica and flirting with cutting-edge r’n’b. Guests – including Animal Collective, Laurel Halo and Weyes Blood –never dominate proceedings, but are a condiment to Cale’s main dish; his voice remains powerfully expressive, the songs nodding hazily to past experiences and the state of the nation.

The funk-enriched Night Crawling depicts the time Cale explored 1970s NYC nightlife with David Bowie, while Moonstruck (Nico’s Song) is Cale’s ode to the ill-fated VU vocalist. Story Of Blood is a dystopian, piano-led beauty, and on jawdropping album closer Out Your Window, Cale holds out a helping hand to someone on the brink of an abyss. Mercy deserves the same level of praise and attention that was heaped upon Bowie’s Blackstar.

words DAVID NOBAKHT