Mary Gauthier
Mercy Now
Lost Highway

Mary Gauthier sings and writes about lost souls and lost causes. She takes listeners down gritty roads that are lined with cheap motels and broken hearts. Although the ride isn’t always easy, it’s a journey worth taking. Gauthier’s razor-sharp lyrics and world-weary vocals serve as good traveling companions. Her territory is often dark and dangerous, but there’s also light at the end of the tunnel and characters full of hope along the way.
“Mercy Now” is Gauthier’s fourth CD and her first for a major label, Lost Highway. It is a stunning continuation of her Southern Gothic tales. The title track is mesmerizing. Gauthier (pronounced go-shay) begins by asking for mercy for her father and then her brother. Soon, it grows to be a gentle plea for compassion for the rest of us. The song could have easily become washed in sentiment, but Gauthier is too complex and too good of a writer to let that happen. “Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now,” she sings. “I know we don’t deserve it. But we need it anyhow.” When writing about broken characters and people from the wrong side of the tracks, Gauthier always manages to bring out their humility. The CD features her song, “I Drink,” which originally appeared on her “Drag Queens in Limousines” album. Like all her songs, “I Drink” is filled with quiet candor. Gauthier doesn’t render any judgment or apology about drinking. Instead, she offers a close-up look at one person’s situation, elevating the simple lyrics to poetry.

Her own story is like a country song. The Louisiana native ran away from home as a teen-ager and has been through jail and detox. She operated a successful Cajun restaurant in Boston before turning her attention to music. She wrote her first song at 35.

Gauthier has writing credits on eight of the 10 songs on “Mercy Now,” including the moody “Falling Out of Love,” which opens the CD. “Wheel Inside the Wheel” is a tune set among the streets and characters of New Orleans, where parades are thrown for beloved musicians when they die. In this song, Gauthier gets inside one of these soul parades. There’s also the tender “Empty Spaces,” which features background vocals by Patty Griffin.

The CD also includes “Just Say She’s a Rhymer,” by the late, great Harlan Howard and “Your Sister Cried” by alt-country fave Fred Eaglesmith. Gurf Morlix, who produced Gauthier’s previous album and has worked with Lucinda Williams, is back in the producer seat. Gauthier is often compared to Williams, but Gauthier’s music falls more in line with the folk tradition of John Prine and Townes Van Zandt. In the end, cowboys and philosophers, housewives and barflys will find a friend in Gauthier. -- D. Kimura