Live Review: Merci, Mercy

Indie pop artist Stellie plays for the first time in Melbourne tonight after making the trip over from her Adelaide hometown. Her personal stories told through shimmering vocals and catchy melodies instantly command our attention. “You’ve made it to the heartbreak part of the set. Well, they’re all pretty much heartbreak songs,” she laughs. 

Stellie’s passion for singing and songwriting really shows through her powerful performance. We’re intrigued by a dark and moody undertone to her style on some songs including her latest release, Bullet Through The Heart.

“I’m obsessed with the number 22,” Stellie reveals. She claims it as her lucky number on her song 22 Pieces. “It’s 2022 so things better happen, or I’ll be annoyed,” she announces. She keeps the audience engaged with a unique take of Britney’s …Baby One More Time, including a few verses of Oops!...I Did It Again. The jazzy, indie pop/rock vibe is a fresh take to really make it her own. 

Merci, Mercy (aka Mercedes Thorne) confesses she’s a bit nervous tonight but as soon as she begins to sing, she seems as comfortable as ever. She’s got new bright orange hair and is ready to showcase some new music we haven’t heard before.

Thorne grabs her ukulele for her hit Fall Apart and serves up her light and airy vocals. Her catchy alternative pop beats and relatable lyricism is refreshing to hear. She coins a new phrase, AFD (Alcohol-Free Day), which she sings an anthemic chorus, “I just wanna get blind and leave my old life behind.” 

Themes of anxiety, insecurity and self-sabotage thread through her songs, including her biggest hit, Fucked Myself Up, which has the catchiest amount of swearing you can sing-along to in three minutes. Thorne wears her heart on her sleeve and is completely vulnerable for us. She shares a new song acoustically that’s a real tear-jerker. “It’s a sad song so if you don’t cry then do you have a heart?” she jokes.

The mood instantly lifts with her latest song Winnie Crush, which gets us grooving along to the disco sound packed with shimmering synths. She sings effortlessly yet bluntly, “Dosing up, been fucking too much / I'm not a TV, no, I can't be turned off / I'm stuck on a setting of love I can't afford.”

Thorne tears up for an emotional encore but her bandmates help her out and she carries on with support of her family and friends in the audience. Merci, Mercy is a rising star that still has so much to give and there’s no doubt we can expect even bigger things to come.