“The lyrics kind of sum up my life playing music in that you had better be in it because you love it, because nothing is guaranteed,” says vocalist and guitarist Brendan Scholz of Las Vegas-based pop punk outfit Mercy Music on the band’s hopeful and determined new single ‘Suddenly’ taken from their upcoming fourth full-length album ‘What You Stand To Lose’ out June 30th via Double Helix Records/SBÄM Records.
With such deliberate lyrics like ‘You place your bet, put it all on black / The urge to win, better give back / Fight and die, to fight and die again,’ even the listener understands the stakes, no matter how figurative the actual words are. Bassist Jarred Cooper adds, “I love the [Descendents‘] Karl Alvarez-inspired bass lines and the way the bridge and guitar solo go together is so strong.”
Similar to the album’s first single, the devastatingly upbeat ‘Love You/Need You’, which the band says is about coming to terms with a love that is no longer reciprocal, there’s an underlying theme on the album of the physical and mental pain that comes with heartbreak and the emotional growth that follows.
“‘What You Stand To Lose’ is about coming face to face with one of your worst fears, learning from the experience, and hoping you come out the other side a better person,” says Scholz. Produced by Bill Stevenson – known the world over for his work with Descendents, ALL, and Black Flag at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado – and mixed by Jason Livermore (Descendents, Propagandhi, NOFX, Hot Water Music), ‘What You Stand To Lose’ sees the band finding inspiration in the fact that nothing should be taken for granted, no time should be wasted, and there is everything in the world to lose by not collectively fighting hard enough to succeed.