about “MERCY GO ROUND” and Wake Moody

“Mercy Go Round” sees Wake Moody (the stage name of Chapel Hill, NC musician Gabriel Reynolds) releasing new music for the first time since his 2019 debut EP Shivers. The song is the first single from upcoming EP We’re So Above It Now, which was recorded and produced by Reynolds himself and released in October 2023. The EP was funded in part by an Artist Support Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council and Durham Arts Council (awarded in February 2022).

Sweet, soulful and catchy all at once, “Mercy Go Round” is a pop-R&B meditation on the importance of forgiveness and reciprocity in relationships, with rich vocal layers carried by a driving rhythm section. Unabashedly populist but still capturing Wake Moody’s unique musical personality, the song comes across as a modern take on the turn-of-the-century pop-R&B sound associated with acts like Justin Timberlake, Anthony Hamilton, and Usher, while maintaining a sense of warmth and lushness drawn from the likes of Maxwell, Daniel Caesar and Earth Wind and Fire.

“I love the maturity and humility of artists like Maxwell and Bill Withers,” Reynolds says. “They’re real grown-ups. Songs like Pretty Wings and Lean on Me actually give you genuine adult advice.” In this spirit, “Mercy Go Round” celebrates the fact that an important part of any relationship is – as he puts it – “Taking turns forgiving each other. You’re taking turns on the mercy go round. And if you’re doing it right, your relationship gets stronger, and you both become better as people.” The song comes across as empathetic and lighthearted but deeply sincere. “My mother described the vibe as R&B Mr. Rogers,” Reynolds says with a laugh.

When he began writing the song in mid-2019, Reynolds had never been in a declared relationship, but now he is coming up on one year of marriage. “I spent so long feeling unworthy of love and imagining that I wasn’t capable of handling a relationship, being afraid that I would make mistakes from inexperience,” he says. “This song almost felt like a signal from my subconscious, trying to tell myself that mistakes have their place, and that accepting that and learning as you go is the only way to make anything meaningful happen.”

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Recording began during the 2020 stay-at-home order, as Wake Moody live performances were put on hold by the pandemic and Reynolds began to invest in home recording skills and equipment. The song features electric guitar by Keenan Jenkins and bass by TJ Richardson, both members of the Wake Moody live band. The song also features additional vocals by fellow Chapel Hill-based singer Elora Dash.

Gabriel Reynolds is a veteran of the Triangle music scene, with fourteen years of live performance, booking, and production work under his belt, along with a history of membership in such bands as Morning Brigade, Virgins Family Band, T0W3RS, XOXOK, Emily Musolino, and more. He began performing as Wake Moody in 2019.

Other credentials:

Recipient of North Carolina Arts Council Artist Support Grant (2022), towards the recording of his second EP.

Past performances include:

NC State Fair 2019
Eno River Festival 2019
Almost-Summer Fest 2019
The Pinhook
Local 506
SoFar Raleigh, SoFar Charlotte, SoFar Greensoboro
opening for Ruth B (as Gabriel David)