Natalie Bergman is best known as one-half of Wild Belle, a brother-and-sister duo whose adventurous, sonically rich pop music is informed by reggae, Afrobeat, soul, and multiple other genres. After releasing their third full-length effort, 2019's Everybody One of a Kind, Bergman's father and stepmother were killed by a drunk driver. Retreating to a monastery in New Mexico, she meditated on her loss and began writing what would eventually become her debut solo album. The resulting gospel-tinged Mercy was released in 2021.

Bergman and her brother Elliot were raised in the Chicago area and grew up in a deeply musical household where the likes of Bob Dylan, Pharoah Sanders, and Etta James frequented the airwaves. She composed her first song on the ukulele at the age of 13, and the duo spent the next few years recording songs at home on a four-track machine. Natalie joined Elliot's Afrobeat band NOMO in 2006 as a percussionist and backup singer, and in 2012 the pair began operating as a duo under the moniker Wild Belle. They released their debut album, Isles, the following year, with Dreamland arriving in 2016 and Everybody One of a Kind appearing three years later. In 2019, as the duo was about to take the stage at Radio City Music Hall, they received a devastating phone call informing them that their father and stepmother had died at the hands of a drunk driver. Looking inward, Natalie decamped to a monastery in New Mexico's Chama Valley. Emerging in 2020 with an inspiring set of songs and a newly reinforced faith, she headed into the studio to record her solo debut. Released on Third Man Records in 2021, the aptly named Mercy saw Bergman issue a deeply fortifying record that combined elements of jazz, soul, rock, and gospel. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi