Mercy Drops by Norma Dream

Norma Dream is a six-piece dream folk band from Northampton, Massachusetts.

Built on the masterful banjo-playing and songwriting of Norma Jean Haynes, Norma Dream claims a deep knowledge of American roots music and an intuitive poetic grace. Will Amend (percussion), Eli Liguz (acoustic guitar), Camille Vogley- Howes (fiddle), Nino Soberon (cello) and Madden Alea (keys) complete the ensemble. In full-band arrangement, Norma Dream is a universe unto itself, glimmering kaleidoscopic unto the fabric of folk tradition.

Quotes the Sacred Harp hymn "Africa:" God on His thirsty Zion's hill, some mercy drops has thrown. Mercy Drops, the debut studio album of folk band Norma Dream, fugues on the mercy drops in our lives: small moments of grace in the midst of dry seasons. Composed after a great love story in the mountains of Corsica, Mercy Drops employs American folk vernacular to tackle the theme of love present and absent. Driving banjo refracts off drums and cello, a distant fiddle pines as if in memory, a choir lifts its voices in a hymn of praise for healing. Norma Dream crafts a new sound out of traditional elements, re-membering a musical universe as poignant as it is playful.

Co-produced and engineered by Kevin Copeland (Hannah Frances, Lily Seabird) in Arlington, VT, Mercy Drops is an island, a love letter to a summer newly ended, just in time for an exquisite autumn of longing.
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Tracklist

1.	Africa	2:02

2.	Mercy Drops	4:31

3.	Strawberry Wine	4:11

4.	Birds of Sorrow	3:57

5.	Joyous	4:12

6.	Milbrook	2:37

7.	Un Peu D'Eau	3:00

8.	Best Of A Season	4:28

9.	Angel Wings	5:32

Credits

released October 11, 2025

Recorded, Engineered, and Mixed by Kevin Copeland at Science is Magic Studios in Arlington, VT

Mastered by James Haynes

Performed and arranged by Norma Jean Haynes, Kevin Copeland, Will Amend, Camille Vogley-Howes, Eli Liguz, Nino Soberon, Hannah Levy, Mary Fraser, and Em Rothman

Norma Dream is Norma Jean Haynes (songwriting, vocals, banjo), Will Amend (percussion), Camille Vogley-Howes (violin), Nino Soberon (cello), Eli Liguz (guitar, vocals, percussion), and Madden Alea (guitar, keys).

“Africa” is a 1770 hymn from the Sacred Harp with text by Isaac Watts and music by William Billings. “Millbrook” is a contemporary hymn in the Sacred Harp tradition composed by Neely Bruce in 1989. Both were arranged for this record by Em Rothman and Hannah Levy. All other
songs written by Norma Jean Haynes

Dedicated to Gael, and to my father Christopher Haynes.

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