Weyes Blood – And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow

Transcendent and sometimes wistful, the folk-pop of Weyes Blood (a.k.a. LA-based Natalie Mering) explores everything that drives us, divides us, and destroys us. This sounds like heavy stuff, but Mering is an effortless guide. Though burdened by doubt, she is also buoyed by hope — her music unfurling with stunning nuance and ease. Weyes Blood's breakout album on Sub Pop, Titanic Rising (named one of 2019's best by Pitchfork, NPR, The Guardian), was an observation of doom to come. Its follow up, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, finds her in the thick of it, searching for an escape hatch, away from algorithms and ideological chaos. After five albums and years of touring, Mering has a lot on her mind.