Weyes Blood basks in her loneliness

It seems only natural that a voice such as Natalie Mering’s invokes a certain sense of nostalgia in everyone whose ears she has graced; a rounded, warm tone that glides gracefully through a deeper range in the manner of Karen Carpenter or Joni Mitchell, a close camaraderie with a baby grand and the innate sense of doom that seems to follow Mering everywhere she goes. 

And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow acts as the second in a trilogy of albums, the successor of Mering’s Titanic Rising, describing the sequel as a personal response “to being in the thick of it.” Mering allows herself to feel the scope of her emotions without remorse or apology for melodrama. Conversely, she uses the grandeur of her feelings to her advantage. Mering’s exploration of joy, melancholy, anxiety and love leave no stone unturned, creating a cinematic feel and impeccable world-building as she pays homage to those who have come before her and those who have yet to come – perhaps extraterrestrial beings.

“It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” debuts with a foreboding string arrangement before segueing into a vintage piano motif a la Carole King, Mering’s vocals gliding with ease over airy harmonies as she grapples with the vast hopelessness that comes with loneliness. The melody is anthemic as it modulates in accordance with the climax of the song, accompanied by woodwinds as Mering’s voice crescendos before falling back to a sweet lilt as she reiterates, “It’s not just me / It’s everybody.”

The second track, “Children of the Empire,” could almost sound cheery if not for the gloomy harmonies and doom-sensing lyricism that it boasts. As nearly all of Weyes Blood’s songs do, it maintains a vintage air while skillfully intertwining with synths and unfortunately timely lyrics, “So much blood on our hands / King and queen of being lonely / Children of the empire see / That we’re all lost.” The song pokes out like a sunflower in a graveyard, using groovy percussion to offset the desperation Mering sings of, seemingly one of a younger generation to its older counterparts. 

A great majority of Mering’s work seems to follow a similar pattern – a humble beginning before artfully crescendoing into something of a power ballad or something more psychedelic, perhaps idiosyncratic, though it never seems predictable. Elements of religion or cosmic motifs are used sparingly but in harmony with one another, creating a dynamic experience.

The religious elements come into play on the introspective “God Turn Me Into a Flower,” as Mering harmonizes with herself once again as a hymn-like melody eases by, transforming into an astonishing ballad. Mering’s vocals slide through vocal dynamics and her range with finesse as sounds of nature slowly trickle in, indicating that Mering has literally turned into a flower, her yearning to be one with nature now fully realized. 

Worship and divinity keep an undercurrent throughout, reappearing in songs like the appropriately named “In Holy Flux” as a distorted choir softly echoes throughout the track, equal parts haunting and ethereal, perhaps otherworldly – another recurring theme on the project. 

Spacy and cosmic elements warble throughout on tracks such as “The Worst Is Done,” and the idiosyncratic “Twin Flame.” This is Mering’s way of recounting her version of events in the modern age we live in today; the celestial cosmic elements of it all representing the future and the unknown, bizarre and full of hope, and the desperation of turning to faith as prayer for an answer or a moment of reprieve from the amalgamation of personal burdens and those that fall upon the world as a whole.  

“A Given Thing” leads Mering back to where she began, in a way – it’s still just her low voice and a piano at the start and a heartstring-pulling melody, but she’s more reflective now, though not necessarily on her way to a happy ending. Mering croons, “It’s not a one-way street / Sometimes, our love is enrapturing / And other times, it’s just unraveling in front of me.” That said, Mering doesn’t necessarily have to find her happy ending anytime soon – she has another album to figure it all out, after all.