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

Folk-rock supergroup crafts an intimate, hypnotic gem
By Alex Biese

Note : 4

The buzz: Supergroup alert! Dhani Harrison—son of the late Beatle George Harrison and an emerging star in his own right—has teamed up with rootsy guitar slinger Ben Harper and singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur to form the folksy ensemble Fistful of Mercy, and the group is releasing its debut album, "As I Call You Down."

The verdict: While the world probably wasn't clamoring to hear what a Harrison/Harper/Arthur collaboration would sound like, "As I Call You Down" is a disarming and effective debut. Employing tight, sunny harmonies in the tradition of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young—the gold standard of folk-rock supergroups—the men of Fistful of Mercy have come together to craft a mellow, intimate gem. Sounding much more natural together than the members of the similarly-minded Monsters of Folk did last year, Harrison, Harper and Arthur seamlessly blend their sounds here in a series of slow-burning, hypnotic tunes. 

While time will tell whether this is ultimately a one-off teaming or something more, this album is an undeniably lovely effort. When, on the album's closing track, the three men sing "I hope you find friends with whom you belong," it's hard for listeners not to think that the band's members have found exactly that in each other.