REVIEW : Fistful Of Mercy's As I Call You Down - AllMusic

AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Note : 3 of 5 stars


Fistful of Mercy is entirely too aggressive a name for the ramshackle trio of Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur, and Dhani Harrison, a group of neo-hippies whose respective circles conjoined so they decided to strum some acoustic guitars together and see what happened. What happened was a collection of nine pleasant folk-rock tunes tinged with a little blues and a lot of softly psychedelic twists reminiscent of Dhani’s dad, George. 

The melodies may recall the elder Harrison but the overall feel is uncannily CSN at their softest, the harmonies always gentle and the tempos never moving any faster than a lazy stroll. The mellow vibes are appealing in their own lackadaisical way, but as the short LP approaches its conclusion it’s hard not to wish there was just a little more discipline, perhaps enough to sculpt these pleasant sounds into full songs.