Experimental pioneer John Cale, best known as a founding member of the Velvet Underground, has announced his first album of original compositions in a decade. MERCY will be released on January 20 next year and a new single in support of it has just been released. Check out the “STORY OF BLOOD” feat. Weyes Blood below:

The above video by Emmy-winning director Jethro Waters blends the darkness with the light and the religious with the spiritual. Both Cale and Weyes Blood can be seen within the abstractions of the dazzling frames.

About the collaboration, Cale said the following: “I’d been listening to Weyes Blood’s latest record and remembered Natalie’s puritanical vocals. I thought if I could get her to come and sing with me on the ‘Swing your soul’ section, and a few other harmonies, it would be beautiful. What I got from her was something else! Once I understood the versatility in her voice, it was as if I’d written the song with her in mind all along. Her range and fearless approach to tonality was an unexpected surprise. There’s even a little passage in there where she’s a dead-ringer for Nico.”

The new album will feature contributions from some of the music industry’s most creative and audacious minds, including Animal Collective, Sylvan Esso, Laurel Halo, Tei Shi and Actress.

MERCY Tracklist:
1. MERCY feat. Laurel Halo
2. MARILYN MONROE’S LEGS (beauty elsewhere) feat. Actress
3. NOISE OF YOU
4. STORY OF BLOOD feat. Weyes Blood
5. TIME STANDS STILL feat. Sylvan Esso
6. MOONSTRUCK (Nico’s Song)
7. EVERLASTING DAYS feat. Animal Collective
8. NIGHT CRAWLING
9. NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
10. THE LEGAL STATUS OF ICE feat. Fat White Family
11. I KNOW YOU’RE HAPPY feat. Tei Shi
12. OUT YOUR WINDOW