Rachel Platten Unveils Powerful New Single 'Mercy'

Rachel Platten reclaims her spot as a global hitmaker, with her new single, “Mercy” – a cry from the depths of her own personal dark night of the soul that unexpectedly erupts in joy, replete with trumpets, guitars and a Motown-inspired call and response. A track she wrote completely on her own. 

“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,” says Platten, who experienced postpartum anxiety/depression following the birth of her two daughters.

She adds, “The darkness felt so big, but this almost joyful music was coming out of my voice and piano keys. The chords were triumphant, the wail of ‘oh mercy' was so wounded and yet so raw and soulful, like the rock and roll I grew up loving: Janis Joplin, Elvis, Susan Tedeschi and Sheryl Crow were with me that night as I channeled this answer to my pain. It came all at once, so fast that I had to try to catch the words as they spilled out of me.”

Platten recorded “Mercy” in Nashville, co-producing the song with Jason Evigan (Maroon 5, Selena Gomez and Rüfüs du Sol) and Gian Stone (Meghan Trainor). They were joined, she recalls, by “the live band of our dreams, Aaron Sterling on the drums and the band behind Kacey Musgraves' brilliant Golden Hour on the guitars, bass and Hammond. I was on the Steinway and we recorded the track together in three takes. It was wildly joyful and fun to feel it come to life.” Platten recruited a group of friends she came up with in NYC's music scene to serve as a backing choir.

Last week, The GRAMMY Museum and the City of New York teamed up to present an intimate conversation and performance by Platten at The Greene Space in NYC, with Savannah Guthrie of TODAY as the host. ”Mercy” follows her 2023 single “Girls,” which marked Platten's first new music since 2017. 

“Girls” has resonated deeply with fans across the globe. At Spotify alone, “Girls” has been added to over 152,000 personal playlists. Many from grandmothers to daughters to sisters – have used the song to soundtrack their own families' stories of resilience and joy.