American singer-songwriter Rachel Platten studied classical piano from the age of 5 and then took up guitar in high school. “1,000 Ships,” a single from her first album, Be Here, peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard Adult Top 40 chart. Her real breakthrough came in 2015 when the single “Fight Song” charted in numerous countries and reached the top 10 in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and topped the chart in the UK. The follow up, “Stand by You,” although not quite reaching the heights of its predecessor, was also successful. Since then Rachel Platten has released a handful of less successful singles, while her last album was released in 2017. We would argue her music deserves more exposure and success.
“Mercy” is Rachel’s latest single and provides serves as an appetizer for her forthcoming new album which is due for release in May. The song is deeply personal. In her own words:
“I wrote ‘Mercy’ alone in my studio in the middle of the night, during the darkest part of a very painful battle with my mental health. I ran to my piano and banged on the lower register and let out a guttural cry, ‘oooh mercy,’ I can’t take anymore, please stop this pain……. It came all at once, so fast that I had to try to catch the words as they spilled out of me.”
Rachel Platten’s “Mercy” is new this week on RadiJohan.