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. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine