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