Not since their 2013 debut has Brian Swindle written songs as personal as those on Have Mercy’s fourth and latest album, The Love Life. “I wrote it to talk about everything I went through the last couple of years, and how I was feeling during all of it,” he said when the Baltimore-based emo group dropped their first single from the album, “Clair.” “I want people to know that it’s okay to be vulnerable and ask for help. If you don’t then you may just be stuck in a bad place.”
Following up the Manchester Orchestra–recalling first single earlier this summer was the more streamlined pop punk of “Heartbeat,” which gets a video today. Featuring Swindle up to his neck in bathwater dyed a variety of bright colors, the song’s intimate lyrics are visually matched by their writer’s hardly breaking eye contact with the camera.
“I had the idea for this when we had an off day on tour. Ben Lieber set up a camera, we stole a bunch of food dye, and borrowed my buddy’s bathtub for an hour. I spent a week or so editing this in a bumpy van but we made it work. I’m super happy with it.”
The Love Life is out August 2 via Hopeless Records. You can pre-order it here.
