Have Mercy – The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been

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There’s something to be said when you can feel a beating heart behind a band’s music. That raw, emotional connection to the material is hard to come by these days, especially in the AI-era of music. Maryland’s own Have Mercy have returned with their most immediate material to date with The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been, that is packed with ultra-personal lyrics. “We’ve been waiting so long to show our fans what we’ve been working on. This feels like a new journey has started for our band. There’s no better way to kick start this album than releasing a song like ‘august 17’. It is an incredibly personal song that carries a lot of weight. It’s about loss and the continuing pain felt after someone is gone. It may hurt less over time, but it never stops hurting,” shared Brian Swindle, lead singer/guitarist of Have Mercy. By delving even deeper into stories of loss and trauma, Have Mercy simultaneously crafted their most personal, urgent, and best work to date on The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been.

The band is rounded out by Andrew Johnson (guitar), Nick Woolford (bass), and the newest band member of Steve Wootteon (drums), and this four-piece unit has incredible chemistry, and their individual parts work best when in sync with each other, which happens naturally throughout their sixth studio album. “Only, If Only” kicks things off with a solid drum beat from Wootteon, before Swindle opens with, “Late night, you’re home, I know your call / It’s the smell of a cigarette stained in your wall / It’s my roommate is out for the night with some friends / I don’t want to sleep alone in this bed again,” as he paints a vivid picture with great lyrical imagery packed with substance. The key single of “August 17” showcases what Have Mercy are all about today: big guitar hooks, paired with emotive vocals/harmonies, all put on blend with their hearts planted firmly on the sleeves. Swindle recalls a family member’s sudden death as he shares, “I should’ve picked up the phone / I should’ve made some plans to see you / Now it’s all too late and the times were great / I’ll miss you, I’ll miss you / And say I love you every single chance I can / Cause you made me who I am,” and you can feel the utter pain and loss behind his vocals here.

”Little Pieces” has an incredible bass line throughout the song, supplanted by Woolford, while the dual-guitar attack from Swindle/Johnson remain fully in-tune with the mood of the lyrics. As Swindle nearly shouts on the second half of the chorus of, “But you fucked me up and you broke me down / Into the little pieces that I just found / I’m trying to put me back together again / Trying to put me back together again,” it’s hard to not sympathize with the vulnerable lead vocalist explaining his state of mind. “In My Veins” features an all-time great opening guitar riff from Have Mercy, that provides a great artistic landscape for the band to paint over, as Swindle carefully croons, “She drapes her legs across mine gracefully / I’m sure I’ll fuck this up it’s typical of me / With you I don’t need to be asleep to dream / With you I don’t need to think of anything,” as he explains a current relationship. The front half of the record closes with the ballad of “Old Selfish Me” that highlights the band’s ability to convey a wide range of emotions in the emo genre, while still staying authentic to what brought so many fans into the Have Mercy fold in the first place. Lyrics like, “I don’t talk in those tongues, I don’t speak to the dead / I don’t do all those things that got in your head / I wish people well and go on my way / And wonder if things would be different if you had stayed,” are incredibly well-crafted and thought out, as you can tell the band obsessed over each intricate part of this record.

”TV Glows” offers a bit more of a look at the world thru Swindle’s lens on the beginning of the Side B section of the LP, as the lead vocalist explains, “Now we can’t get all the days we had it / I heard you learned to love again I haven’t / Make it a point to call if you want to talk / If you’re missing me or anything at all,” with some additional backing vocals from a female vocalist. The contrast between Swindle and the backing female vocalist provides the context of two torn lovers apart, each with their own input on the fractured relationship. “This Could Be Gold” gradually gets going, but when it does finally hit its crescendo, its pure emo bliss.

”Faking A Crush” allows for Swindle to experiment a bit with his vocal approach, as he effortlessly goes from a near falsetto approach to his standard croon with veteran ease. The fills from drummer Steve Wootteon are as intricate, as they are important to the overall context of the mood of the track, and he does a great job in his role here. “What Happy Is” offers a piano-laced ballad about searching for subtle signs that things can get better, as Swindle approaches the chorus with, “I’m looking comfort / I’m looking for change / I’m looking for anyone who could feel the same / I take things for granted / I take them too far / I guess I’ll never know who you really are / And I’ll never know what happy is.” It’s a sad statement to end the chorus, but it only speaks to the vulnerabilities many of us feel at one time at another. The title of the LP comes in at the end of this track, as Swindle explains, “This is the loneliest place that I’ve ever been / But it’s the only place that I’ll ever learn to love again.”

The album closer, “Medicine”, does nothing to dissuade my feelings that this raw and personal record from Have Mercy is their best work to date. Instead, it’s the exclamation point at the end of the sentence. Have Mercy have remained utterly captivating gin their songwriting for The Loneliest Place I’ve Ever Been, and I hope that others see and hear the magic that comes together when you wrap your ears around this record.

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