Natalie Mering creates ethereal and authentic folk under the name Weyes Blood. Sometimes it's hard to hear that the album Front Row Seat To Earth, her fourth album, is released in 2016 and not 1966. It's easy to draw parallels to the folk singers of that era - Judee Sill and Karen Dalton are clear references. With the purest of voices she penetrates the soundscape of bewitching and harmonious melodies with harp arpeggios and organ motifs, a mixture of Renaissance music, folk and psychedelia, and comes out triumphant on the other side. Her vibrato and slightly melancholic tone makes me think of Joan Baez.
I feel privileged to get to sit in the front row and to listen to Mering's harmonious melodies, performed with such a natural ease and with a twinkle in her eye. Musically, there is a kinship with folk musicians such as Joanna Newsom and Feist. Unlike these Mering appears far less pretentious. The kitschy and hilarious album cover on which she spreads out among the sand dunes, dressed in a neon blue suit and sneakers, against a backdrop of an open sky and a mighty mountain range, indicates that she doesn't take herself too seriously and shows her relaxed relationship with her artistic expression.
Front Row Seat to Earth is however ambitious and demanding music. We are taken on a musical expedition in Renaissance music, folk music and the psychedelia of the 60s and 70s. Sometimes she surprises and throws in ambient and electronica into the mix. She tells a fairytale that's easily linked to ours and her reality. She's both personal and political and touches on topics such as divorce and the smart-phone obsessed generation's detached relationship with earth and the environment. The melodies are dreamy, ethereal and cerebral, and seem to be sailing on clouds. The instruments - piano, trumpet, harp, organ and brass orchestra - together with Mering's smooth and pure voice, create an exciting dynamic.
Front Row Seat to Earth is a mature, stylish and on the whole a very beautiful album with a wonderful retro-feel. The mere 28-year-old folk singer is a rare talent that deftly balances the harmonic melodies with the texts of lyrical quality and complex musical constructions. One of the most impressive indie-folk releases of the year, right up there with Angel Olsen's My Woman.
— SteemSwede
Weyes Blood - Used To Be [Official Video]
Weyes Blood - Do You Need My Love [Official Video]
Weyes Blood - Seven Words [Official Video]
