Mercy Kelly Breathe For Her – Love, Loss, and Indie Fire

Breathing On The Glass

There’s something about fogged-up glass and the words you write on it. They vanish, they go away, they’re never permanent – but in that fleeting moment they’re alive. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw the Breathe For Her artwork: blurred edges, a figure half-lost in haze, like someone caught between memory and breath.

Mercy Kelly new single Breathe For Her feels exactly like that – a message scrawled in condensation, fragile yet alive. Out October 3rd, 2025, Breathe For Her it’s a track heavy with love and loss, built into chords that sting, then lift, then leave you a little raw.

I didn’t know Mercy Kelly before this. Breathe For Her was my way in, and then I went backwards – playing Speak Too Soon and a few other tracks like someone rifling through old letters. But in the Breathe For Her, this line – “I search for heat, but find the cold / Just empty sounds of stories old.” – kept ringing in my ears, It’s the sort of lyric you press pause, like a bruise you keep pressing just to see if it still hurts.

Mercy Kelly’s Road So Far

Mercy Kelly rose out of Oldham in the winter of 2019, not with fireworks but with frost on the windows, and melodies scratching at the walls until they broke free. Frontman Jack Marland and guitarist Adam Bridge began as an acoustic duo. Then Joel Buckley, Leon Hepke, and Jacob Simpson filled in the edges – bass, drums, rhythm guitar – giving the songs muscle and heartbeat.

They’ve already stood in front of big crowds. Kendall Calling was one of those moments. You don’t forget when strangers start singing back to you under open skies. And yet, listening to Breathe For Her, I get the sense this is the pivot. To bring the track to life, they headed over to Liverpool’s Kempston Street Studios – the place that once carried the weight of Parr Street’s history and still hums with the ghosts of bands who’ve passed through.

Alex Quinn sat in the producer’s chair, and the track came out carrying more weight than the room could hold. I felt that weight pressing through my speakers too, heavy and alive. Coldplay and Justin Bieber may have walked those same rooms, but Mercy Kelly left their own burn mark there. And sitting on my side of the speakers, I felt branded too. Like the track carried a mark meant to travel.

Fire, Smoke, And What Comes Next

What I like about Mercy Kelly is they’re not in a rush to play it by the book. Breathe For Her feels bold, almost like they dared themselves to crack their own ribs open for the song. The sound comes on like a match in a damp room – small at first, then suddenly everything’s glowing, the walls breathing with it. That’s how Breathe For Her lands on me.

And the future? There’s another single queued – Out in the Night, already a fan-favourite at gigs – and an EP before the year is out. They’re building something layered: sharp pop sensibilities, thick indie guitar walls, stories written for the radio plays and the festival fields. And as I sit here listening, I can almost picture both – me tuning in alone at night, then me shoulder to shoulder in a crowd when this one breaks open live.

Guys – songs like this keep the lungs moving. I know what I mean. They breathe for you when you can’t, and that’s no small thing. What you can do next is check Mercy Kelly on their Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube. You might have a surprise. Or maybe more.