Ones2Watch Home

When the world shut down in March 2020, it took Have Mercy's victory lap with it. The beloved Baltimore-based emo/indie quartet had called it quits after a decade-long career and were wrapping their time together with sold-out, sweat-and-tear-soaked performances across the country. Then, everything changed. There was no hometown show at the Ottobar, no final bow to thunderous applause and bittersweet emotions alike. Instead, it was like slamming the book shut before the last pages were even written. 

A lot changed for frontman Brian Swindle after that. He got sober, engaged, and creative, releasing a string of solo singles built on the foundation he'd laid with Have Mercy. Eventually, he felt the pull of his past, texting his bandmates: "I wrote a song. It sounds like a Have Mercy song and not a Brian Swindle song." And just like that, the band was back together. Swindle, guitarist Andrew Johnson, drummer Todd Wallace, and bassist Nick Woolford pulled out all the stops and made their triumphant comeback with the creation of their highly anticipated EP Have Mercy (released via ZODHIAC Records). 

The body of work encapsulates the mission statement they've set for this new chapter of Have Mercy. The EP's five songs seamlessly fit into the band's sonic wheelhouse that launched them onto tours with the likes of The Wonder Years and Real Friends with well-loved albums like 2013's The Earth Pushed Back, 2014's A Place Of Our Own, and 2017's Make The Best Of It. This time, though, that sound is a little brighter and more upbeat, cut with a little more maturity and intentionality that results from the last two years of their collective lives surviving the wildest period in modern life.

The band has shared with The Noise their track by tack thoughts on their highly anticipated EP.

I'm Gonna Be OK

I think this song really helps convey the theme of this EP. It's about hope, figuring life out, and growing. In each line of this song, you can feel that. 

SIO

If 'I'm Gonna Be OK' is about the growth, then SIO is about the issues themselves. SIO is about nights out at the bar, making mistakes, and knowing you're making them. It's about someone who is in a downward spiral. 

I Don't Wanna Think Of You

I really wanted to express the feeling of wanting to escape or being set free. Knowing you're broken but knowing you can do better. Imagine driving down the road, head out the window, feeling the breeze and knowing there's more to life.

Marry Me

"Marry Me" is pretty blunt. It's a song about a fight in a relationship. It's not taking itself too serious.

I'll Wait

This is the first song we wrote for the EP. It's pure self reflection. It's me talking to myself. "I was hanging by a thread. 30 Years old waking up in a hospital bed

Fast Car

This song is about wanting more for the young ones in your life. Telling them to live to the fullest but not to make the same mistakes you did. Life is about experiences, learning from them, and passing them on

Strawberry Hill

It's purely a song about addiction. "It's not easy I can't let you go. I'll tell myself I've gone crazy and I'll lose the taste when I'm old." Thinking that it's possible to just grow out of it when really it's something you need to address head on.