Following the release of new single ‘Mercy’, today, Monday 5th December, Alberta Cross release the official video - watch it HERE.
Gaining media support from the UK, US and across Europe, Billboard comments on the track “‘Mercy’ is an achingly gorgeous indication of what’s to come. Between singer/guitarist Petter Ericson Stakee’s wistful upper registry vocals (think Jim James) and soundscapes that bring to mind Mark Knopfler and Ry Cooder, ‘Mercy’ ends up as invigorating as it is melancholy".
Led by Swedish-born lead singer and guitarist Petter Ericson Stakee, Alberta Cross continue to create a timeless alternative sound that is all their own - ‘Mercy’ is the first track to be taken from what will be their seventh album, due for release in 2023.
Written mostly at the legendary The Wool Hall in Frome Somerset with Petter’s long term producer and collaborator, Luke Potashnick, the track has a distinctive pulse that is repetitive and yet also infused with an effervescence. The lyrics, questioning and pleading “it’s always the same, you can’t really rely on anything….are we doing it again….mercy..” are delivered with Petter’s agile and emotive voice, spoken from a post pandemic perspective they address the moments when life can feel like being on a treadmill and the effects that can have on mental health - a definite theme of the new record.
The visuals to accompany the new project are equally poignant and echo the song's solitude and longing. Filmed in black and white on Super 8 cameras in Costa Brava, Spain and directed by Luis Velasco, it finds Petter as a lone sailor moving across empty water and empty landscapes, in search of an image that is only the ruin of what it once was. Dressed in black, his eyes endlessly searching beyond the horizon as the boat moves across the shimmering broad expanse.
As Luis explains: “the video refers to the interaction between the particular and the universal. The ocean appears as the universal and the landman is on a journey to meet himself. I was influenced by ‘Sea At Night’ paintings by Christopher Gee, some of which are included in the video and who’s paintings we used for both the single and album artwork. We brought in multidisciplinary artist Diego Delgado, with whom both Petter and I have collaborated with before and the video was styled by Paris based fashion designer David Miró".
Christopher Gee, mentioned above, is a British artist from Portsmouth, who lives and works on The Thames Estuary, Essex, and he created both the single and album artwork
Since forming in 2005 - Alberta Cross have toured with Mumford & Sons, Portugal. The Man, Neil Young, Them Crooked Vultures (David Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones) and Rag N’ Bone Man to name a few, performed on TV around the world including The Late Show with David Letterman and Last Call with Carson Daly, had tracks featured in multiple US hit TV series (Million Little Pieces, Sons of Anarchy, Californication) and released six previous albums. Now back in the UK, Petter will be promoting the new album in the UK and across Europe throughout 2023, with US dates to come.
‘Mercy’ is out now through Dark Matter / AMK distributed through Kartel Music Group.