Mercy Kelly goes Out in the Night – A Northern Indie Pulse

Grit in the Air and Fire in the Strings

 

I wasn’t looking for a memory, but the first seconds of this track brought me back to my restless youth. And that same feeling returned when I sat down with Out in the Night from Mercy Kelly.

I crossed paths with their fire earlier this year when I wrote about Breathe For Her, and that track already hinted at the storm they were building.

And you know what? I have a soft spot for artists who build their sound the hard way. Mercy Kelly fit that pattern in the best possible manner. A Greater Manchester four-piece born in the winter of 2019, raised on cold air, jangly guitars, and those cathedral-wide melodies that northern bands carry like a birthmark.

Backrooms, Cold Nights, and a Studio

 

The first incarnation started as an acoustic songwriting partnership between Jack Marland and Adam Bridge, two lads trying to build something honest with just voice and strings. The rest came naturally – Thomas Mullen on bass, Connor Byrne on drums – and the band took shape the same way frost forms on glass. Slow, steady, and unavoidable.

Spring 2025 found them recording at Kempston Street Studios in Liverpool – the place previously known as Parr Street, where the walls still hold the echo of a thousand sessions. They reunited with Alex Quinn, a producer who clearly knows how to tame their center of gravity into place.

The plan was simple: three singles before the year wraps its arms around them. Speak Too Soon opened the cycle in July with its gothic edge, Breathe for Her arrived right after, and Out in the Night is the late-November spark pinned on the calendar as the one fans waited for.

Fresh off Kendal Calling and Tramlines, and running on more than 400 radio plays, the band found a sharper stride, trimmed to a four-piece again and ready to push forward with the clarity of a group that understands its own skin now.

The Youth, the Escape and the Edges of a City

Out in the Night carries that restless energy – the kind you feel when you’re young. It’s like watching you age in real time. The band describe it as a track shaped by youth, escape, uncertainty, and that magnetic pull of the unknown. Just listen to it, and picture the northern rain hitting bus stops at odd angles:

Industry whispers already call the song a refreshing indie anthem; another solid piece on top of an already impressive catalogue. And honestly, it fits. I found myself replaying the chorus just to catch the way Jack leans into certain vowels.

Maybe it’s the northern sky talking. Maybe it’s the echo of late rehearsals in cold rooms. I’ve been there with other musicians, and this track carries the same aura, the feeling that maybe tomorrow lands a bit softer.

The People Behind the Sound

Their image lays them out clearly: Jack Marland staring ahead with that mix of fragility and grit. Adam Bridge holding the guitar. Connor Byrne behind the drums, smiling like rhythm is everything, and Thomas Mullen head bent over the bass. All four faces tell the same story, and I like that.

Their discography frames that journey: older singles, EP covers, the cool palette of Speak Too Soon, the darker liquid-esque textures of Breathe for Her, and the artwork for Out in the Night standing right where it belongs in their evolving story. They’re set to close 2025 with an intimate night at Manchester’s Off the Square on December 13, a fitting end to a heavy year of work.

When I think about what Mercy Kelly offer right now, it feels like a spark in a world that often asks artists to shout out loud to be heard. I know it from my own path. They choose a different lane – crafting the melody, raising the guitars, while keeping the soul intact. Out in the Night carries all of that.

And for a moment while listening, I felt that old Manchester street again, the same late hour, and the cold air sniffing at my face. If you want to keep that night-worn pulse close, follow Mercy Kelly on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and TikTok, while the sparks are still flying.

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