Sean By Mercy, Scotland On Sunday, 4 January 2026
Sean By Mercy | Off Axis > Artist of the Week in Scotland On Sunday, 4 January 2026
Sean Lionadh’s brooding yet beautiful songs look set to win him an even bigger following in 2026, write Derick Mackinnon and Olaf Furniss read Scotsman.com
Sean By Mercy is the music project of multi-award-winning poet, filmmaker and artist Sean Lionadh, whose haunting, powerhouse vocal sits at the centre of dark, poetic pop-rock epics. His songs are brooding yet beautiful, tortured yet hopeful.
Lionadh first rose to prominence when his film/poem Time for Love, confronting homophobia in modern society, was published with BBC The Social. It went viral, with over 16 million views, won a Royal Television Society Award, led to a TED Talk and best-selling poetry book. Additionally, his lyrics are carved into a statue in Glasgow Central Station for COP26 Hope Sculpture project.
Live, Sean By Mercy are a powerful six-piece featuring collaborator and co-producer Kyle Stewart, Ewan Laing, Dorian Cloudsley, Rachel Wilson, Dylan Kilgour and Dean Cargill. They’ve been championed by Glasgow University student publication The Glasgow Guardian, Amazing Radio, across BBC Radio, and performed sold out events at LGBTQ+ night Queer Theory and Sofar Sounds.
New single Death by Love is released on 16 January, with videos, gigs and more music due throughout 2026 https://www.instagram.com/seanbymercy/
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Want featured as our Artist of the Week? Visit https://www.newfoundsound.co.uk/scotland-on-sunday email derek@newfoundsound.co.uk