Armand Hammer's Mercy compacts the duo's bleak wit and El Alchemist's austere craft into a record that often feels like a noir chamber piece rather than a traditional rap album. Across professional reviews, critics point to a deliberate tension between lyricism and production: the most compelling moments let Billy Woods and Elucid's associative, image-rich bars breathe over sparse, menacing loops that suggest historical weight, decay, and everyday violence.
The critical consensus earned a 78/100 across 5 professional reviews, with reviewers consistently flagging standout tracks such as “Nil by Mouth”, “Dogeared (feat. Kapwani)”, and “California Games (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)” as the record's clearest successes. Critics praised “Nil by Mouth” for its combustible imagery and mournful-paranoid tension, called “Dogeared” the album's quiet heart of small mercies and survival, and noted “California Games” for a rare ebullience forged by a contrasting guest verse. Across outlets, reviewers emphasized themes of political critique, spiritual metaphor, nostalgia, and a menacing atmosphere where violence and paranoia sit beside moments of tenderness.
Not all perspectives are unanimous. Some critics admire the precision of the minimal production and the sustained mood, while others find the sonic palette constrained and the record more commanding than rapturous. Taken together, the reviews suggest Mercy rewards repeated, attentive listens: it may not offer pyrotechnics, but when the best songs - like “Nil by Mouth”, “Dogeared” and “California Games” - click, the album stakes a persuasive claim in Armand Hammer's catalog. Below, the full reviews unpack why those moments matter and where the album's tension between lyric and beat either pays off or frays.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
California Games
1 mention
"“California Games” unfolds like a ’70s psychedelic soul epic, flutes and wordless vocals intertwining over a splashy groove, wailing up at the heavens."— Pitchfork
Nil by Mouth
3 mentions
"As ELUCID deadpans on ‘Nil By Mouth’, “everything justified when you’re starving right?”"— The Quietus
Calypso Gene
1 mention
"“Calypso Gene” could’ve been unearthed from some lost trove of Dungeon Family recordings, dipping into that collective’s gospel and funk-tinged waters;"— Pitchfork
“California Games” unfolds like a ’70s psychedelic soul epic, flutes and wordless vocals intertwining over a splashy groove, wailing up at the heavens.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Laraaji
Peshawar
Calypso Gene (feat. Silka & Cleo Reed)
Glue Traps (feat. Quelle Chris)
Scandinavia
Nil by Mouth
Dogeared (feat. Kapwani)
Crisis Phone (feat. Pink Siifu)
Moonbow
No Grabba
u know my body
Longjohns (feat. Quelle Chris & Cleo Reed)
California Games (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)
Super Nintendo
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 5 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
AllMusic finds the best songs on Mercy to be vividly realized moments where Armand Hammer's bleak wit meets the Alchemist's hazy loops: "Laraaji" opens with a crashing psych-rock breakdown that sets the tone, while "Calypso Gene" (featuring Silka and Cleo Reed) becomes a jazzier centerpiece exploring spiritual and political waters. The review singles out the woozy nightmare of "Scandinavia" and the more optimistic "Dogeared" as essential listens for their references to starvation and survival. "Crisis Phone" (with Pink Siifu) is described as haunting and noir-ish, and the lighter closing pair—"California Games" (feat. Earl Sweatshirt) and "Super Nintendo"—offer relief with effortless flow and nostalgic synths.
Key Points
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"Calypso Gene" stands out for its jazzier exploration of spiritual and political themes.
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The album's core strengths are its inventive production, sharp lyricism, and willingness to depict grim subject matter engagingly.
Themes
Critic's Take
Liam Inscoe-Jones singles out Mercy’s quieter wounds with the same unnerving clarity he brings to its best songs: ‘Dogeared’ emerges as the gentle heart — a story-song about poetry and small mercies — while tracks like ‘Nil by Mouth’ and the Earl-featured ‘California Games’ supply the album’s most unnerving moments. The reviewist’s measured, descriptive tone insists the best tracks on Mercy trade outright pyrotechnics for creeping insidiousness, making ‘Dogeared’, ‘Nil by Mouth’ and ‘California Games’ the standout moments. This is an album whose best songs unsettle by proximity, not spectacle, and the critic’s voice finds that paradox repeatedly throughout Mercy.
Key Points
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‘Dogeared’ is the album’s emotional center, pairing a simple story with resonant questions about the role of the poet.
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Mercy’s core strengths are its ability to render political cruelty as quotidian unease and to balance visceral imagery with moments of small domestic tenderness.
Themes
Critic's Take
Amen’s Mercy review reads like a careful exegesis of Armand Hammer’s best tracks, singling out “Peshawar”, “Glue Traps” and “California Games” as moments where the duo’s language and The Alchemist’s minimal, elegiac production cohere. He lingers on “Peshawar” for its otherworldly piano and associative lyrics, and on “Glue Traps” for its blunt economic metaphors, while “California Games” gets noted for a rarer ebullience and Earl’s contrasting guest spot. In Amen’s measured, analytical voice, the best songs on Mercy are those where lyrical incendiary force meets precisely wielded, spare sonics that amplify rather than smother the verbal fireworks.
Key Points
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Peshawar is best because its otherworldly piano and associative lyrics crystallize the album’s themes.
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Mercy’s core strengths are incendiary, surreal lyricism and The Alchemist’s spare, elegant soundscapes.
Themes
Critic's Take
Dash Lewis finds Mercy to be Armand Hammer and The Alchemist’s slickest, most exacting collaboration yet, singling out songs like "No Grabba" and "Nil by Mouth" as central exemplars of its mournful-paranoid tension. He emphasizes the trio’s shared vision and Alc’s harrowing production—the best tracks on Mercy are those where the sustained piano and nervy drums let woods and Elucid’s piercing bars land hardest. For readers asking "best songs on Mercy," Lewis points to the funereal march of "No Grabba" and the combustible images in "Nil by Mouth" as the album’s clearest, most affecting moments.
Key Points
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The best song(s) (e.g., “No Grabba”) combine Alc’s dark, sustained production with woods and Elucid’s piercing, historically charged bars.
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Mercy’s core strength is its pervasive tension—production choices and lyrical urgency that make historical violence feel immediate.
Themes
Critic's Take
Armand Hammer and the Alchemist deliver a record that commands respect more than rapture. On Mercy the best tracks - notably “Nil by Mouth” and “Dogeared” - showcase Billy Woods and Elucid at their most precise and hypnotic, even as the producer’s palette feels constrained. The review’s voice lingers on the album’s menacing, oppressive moods and the moments where the duo’s contrast sustains interest rather than fireworks. Mercy is presented as a minor but solid entry that reminds listeners why these rappers remain elite craftsmen.
Key Points
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“Nil by Mouth” is best for Woods’ commanding, distilled lyricism that crystallizes his worldview.
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The album’s core strength is the duo’s lyrical contrast and sustained menacing atmosphere, even if production feels limited.