John Cale: Mercy (2LP)

Once again, Cale has redefined the way his music is made, sounds and even works. His captivating 12-track album, "Mercy," moves through true dark-night-of-the-soul electronics to vulnerable love songs and hopeful musings for the future. Trump and Brexit, Covid and climate change, civil rights and right-wing extremism - Cale infused the bad news of the day into his lines, whether that meant pondering the sovereignty and legal status of sea ice melting near the poles or the inept arming of Americans. For "Mercy," Cale has gathered around him some of the most curious young minds in the music world: Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso, Laurel Halo, Tei Shi, Actress. They are just part of the amazing cast here, brilliant musicians who climb inside Cale's fully realized vision of the world and help him reshape it