Cody Jinks Shares Details & 1st Song from New Album “Mercy”
Cody Jinks has been throwing out hints and allegations about his upcoming new album for a while now, but late Sunday night we were finally afforded specific details and the first song from the set. To be titled Mercy, the new album will be released on November 12th, and the first song from the album is called “All It Cost Me Was Everything” (listen below). It was co-written with Josh Morningstar and Kendell Marvel.
The 12-track album was culled down from 30 songs Jinks recorded in May with his backing band the Tonedeaf Hippies at the Sonic Ranch recording enclave in West Texas. As part of the release, Jinks has formed his own label called Late August Records with his longtime manager Arthur Penhallow Jr. at True Grit Management, as well as Malia Barrett. The completely independent label will not only facilitate Cody’s new releases, but the entire Cody Jinks catalog has been brought under the Late August Records umbrella.
We don’t know much more about Mercy at the moment as Cody is clearly trying to get fans frothing with anticipation with daily hints as opposed to dumping a bunch of info into a press release, but he has made the title available for pre-order on CD and on vinyl, and the track list can be found below.
And Cody Jinks is not done there. Also from Cody’s newly-formed Late August Records, and also to be released on November 12th is the album None The Wiser from Cody’s metal side project called Caned by Nod. He’s also released the debut song from that project called “Middle Finger” (listen below). It was recorded at the same time as Mercy, and both albums were produced and engineered by Edward Spear.
As an independent artist, Cody Jinks has amassed massive numbers, including over 2 billion song streams, including a Certified Gold single in “Hippies and Cowboy,” and a Platinum single in “Loud & Heavy.”
Cody Jinks was also scheduled to perform three nights in New Orleans September 3rd – 5th at the Saenger Theatre. Obviously with the recent hurricane, these dates have been postponed.
Mercy Track List:
1. All It Cost Me Was Everything
2. Hurt You
3. Mercy
4. Feeding The Flames
5. I Don’t Trust My Memories Anymore
6. Like a Hurricane
7. How It Works
8. Nobody Knows How to Read
9. Shoulders
10. Dying Isn’t Cheap
11. Roll
12. When Whiskey Calls The Shots
August 30, 2021 @ 6:14 pm
Both songs are great. How about the steel and the guitar stomp on the country tune.
I’m not sure if the other one’s metal. It kinda has that southern sludge feel but it could also be a harder tune from early soundgarden.
August 31, 2021 @ 9:40 am
A lot of Soundgarden’s material is arguably metal, considering they were heavily influenced by sludge/doom. The Melvins, Saint Vitus, & Black Sabbath were some of their major influences. Soundgarden was really good at blurring the lines though. They mixed a lot of metal, punk, and indie/college rock into their music.
August 30, 2021 @ 6:22 pm
What is going on with Jinks’ production on his last few albums? Once again, it’s thin & flat and drums sound like they were mic’d thru a old school cassette recorder. I get Lo-fi but this has become no-fi. I love Jinks, his shows are stellar but at this point (for me) the production/mixing just distracts from the songs
August 30, 2021 @ 11:04 pm
It’s because country music is filled with deaf producers. I also think they skip mastering the record all together in favor of blind people playing with the knobs and dials while the sound is off.
At its core, I see no reason why country should be any less an audiophile genre than jazz, but guys like Hank 3 made it cool to make records that sound like it was produced in a third world country.
August 31, 2021 @ 12:50 am
Adobe sessions was so well done on production. Then it’s been downhill all the way.
They record at sonic ranch all the time, like Whitey Morgan, but the outcome is tragically different.
The caned by nod sounds like something I recorded in high school in an old 8 track.
August 31, 2021 @ 7:53 am
It’s hard for me to listen to his last two because they are mastered or mixed so loud (and heavy?). I have it on my vehicle’s on-board hard drive, and when played on shuffle, it really sticks out next to other songs.
September 1, 2021 @ 11:46 am
I’ve been saying the same thing since “Lifers”. I can’t understand why he would choose to go the route he’s gone from a final production / mix standpoint.
August 31, 2021 @ 9:55 am
I continue to remain a bit perplexed about this criticism of Cody’s music, though I respect it since it seems to be something many people feel. Perhaps I just listen to too many low budget independent country records while screening through submissions to find fault with this. Are the last few Jinks records the best sounding records I’ve heard? No. But they definitely aren’t the worst.
August 31, 2021 @ 11:21 am
As long as it ain’t Sam Cunt it can’t be that bad ????
August 31, 2021 @ 11:32 am
It may depend on how you listen to it. I play CDs in the car as my main way of listening to music, so it’s not through earbuds or on a turntable in the middle of the room. Most albums are mastered these days with earbuds in mind, so that may be a part of it. I dig his music and songs, just sonically it’s a bit too much.
August 31, 2021 @ 12:21 pm
I’ve heard better by high school bands and 8 track. The Nod song sounds exactly like something I did in high school on a cheap multitrack 20 years ago.
Too much talent to hide behind terrible production values.
You nailed it though, when comparing to small independent artists with no budget it’s not the worst. Sure. But it’s not a tiny independent artist with $80 to their name, it’s Cody effing jinks.
September 1, 2021 @ 2:58 pm
I’ve said this before but I’m really glad we mostly stick to discussing the music on this site for the most part instead of the production/sound quality of every album or song etc…..Cody does take the brunt of it more than any others and although his last few don’t “sound” sonically perfect it hasn’t stopped me from loving em. Good songs are good fuckin songs….lol I’m listening to uncompressed lossless files on an iPod/good headphones (no shit buds) or off a jump drive to a top end aftermarket system in the car with an amp and sub. Like was said above everyone listens to different quality tracks on a myriad of devices etc… and at the end of the day we all have an opinion. I’m looking forward to both of these albums.
September 1, 2021 @ 6:17 am
Agreed! I want to (continue) to like Cody Jinks, but the production is such a turn off. I didn’t make it through half of either one of these songs, and the last 3 albums have all been rough. The musicianship and writing hit the mark for me, but then the production takes away all the good.
Also, Trigger, I’m a big fan of this site and have been for some time. I respect the heck out of your musical tastes! That said, it’s a little shocking for me to read your comment stating you don’t notice the production issues….
September 1, 2021 @ 6:39 am
These days music is often over compressed creating a mash of all the instruments into a single sound. Cody’s last few albums sound as if they are completely uncompressed. It gives the albums more of a live in the studio sound. It takes some getting used to, but if your listening to the whole album as a whole, you can hear more of each instrument. However, when you place one of his songs into a playlist with the more compressed music, it is jarring. Also, I couldn’t agree more with the sound, and really the playing, of the drums. The last few albums the drums sound more like a horrible drum track than actual playing. I started to notice it on Lifers, and now I can’t unnoticed it.
Still love Cody and his music though.
August 31, 2021 @ 4:42 am
Both songs are great. Not only do I love good country, but metal is also one of my all-time favorites. Middle Finger is one of the best that I’ve heard in a long time and considering that Cody was in a metal band before, I’m more excited for this than his country stuff.
August 31, 2021 @ 6:04 am
Love “All it cost me”, but not a fan at all of “middle finger”.
August 31, 2021 @ 8:54 pm
I agree with the production. I think the new songs are borderline terrible. I don’t get the draw to this dude. Funny thing is, I love like five of his songs, but this dude just puts out quantity over quality. Poor production, poor songwriting.
September 1, 2021 @ 1:34 am
I think Cody and his albums sound great. They do not sound flat to me. I do wonder how far he would go if he was with one of the big producers (eg Reynolds) but then maybe that would take away the distinctive sound he has got. I like country and rock and think both tracks good. For me, in terms of sound, voice, songs and sound, he is way ahead of Sturgill. I like Cody’s music but am still undecided about Sturgill. Whatever, everyone has their own opinion and there is a lot of great music being released.
September 1, 2021 @ 6:04 am
Well it’s looking like two of my top albums of the year will both be named Mercy.
September 1, 2021 @ 1:11 pm
I thought the metal song was pretty good. It was about what I expected to hear from Cody, which was a sludgier/stoner track in the vein of Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Crowbar, etc. I didn’t mind the low-fi production, I tend to prefer it more than I used to. I’m tired of the overly compressed production you tend to hear in a lot of modern rock and metal. The country single wasn’t too bad either. Not his strongest performance by any means, but after you give it a few listens you start to appreciate it. I do agree that he should refrain from releasing so much music and focus more on quality.
September 3, 2021 @ 3:00 pm
If anyone wants really polished music, there’s a band called Dan and Shay who sound like digital parodies of human beings. You’ll really like them
I’m grateful someone these days puts music out on a near 1970s pace
September 3, 2021 @ 6:17 pm
Love his voice, love the songs, love the music. I have no complaints. So glad i found this web site a few years ago and it pointed me to Cody’s music, plus many others, i thought there was something wrong me that i didn’t like majority of the mainstream country mega stars, i kept on listening thinking sooner or later i would get it. Nothing wrong with me i just needed some damn good music to listen to.
For anyone interested who doesn’t already know, all of the lyrics to every song on Mercy are up on Cody’s website.
September 3, 2021 @ 6:44 pm
Thanks for reading Eve, and thanks for the tip.