Album Review: Titanic Rising By Weyes Blood

There is no more appropriate title for the newest effort and fourth album from Natalie Mering, otherwise known as Weyes Blood (pronounced wise, very fitting), than “Titanic Rising.” The psychedelic folk/ambient singer’s previous albums have been visceral fusions of folk, psychedelia, and ambient pop with a touch of magic. Her latest release is “cinematic,” as Mering creates a triumphant and surreal vision into the good and bad of the world, our own movie of sorts.

In a world currently being consumed by turmoil, political tension, climate change, cultural apathy, and global warfare, it sometimes feels like our ship is sinking. Mering paints beautiful soundscapes that radiate pure wonder. Titanic Rising is a record that is simply beautiful and you can hear the effort and care that Weyes Blood took to craft it. Natalie Mering takes her musical talents and the use of strings, piano, synthesizers, and her most important instrument — her timeless voice — and executes it perfectly. Though it sounds joyful, it comes with a touch of existentialism. Mering herself has talked about how she is scared for the world, but likes to have hope and has had to exercise it like, “a muscle.” The best example is in the track “Everyday”, a song that sounds like a jangly pop standard of the 1960’s (an era Mering draws major inspiration from), but is actually about the fear of not finding real love in the age of casual relationships and Tinder. This is a common concept from Weyes Blood: mixing lush instrumentals with thought-provoking lyrics.

The album takes the best of the worries and anxieties of living in a world on the edge of destruction and turns it into an almost joyous love letter to the world. The track, “Something to Believe”, is the best example of anxiety turning into optimism. The song begins with feeling defeated and lost, but ends with Mering asking for a sign from the universe to,

[su_quote]“Give me something I can see / Something bigger and louder than the voices in me / Something to believe.”[/su_quote]

She has a way of letting the listener relinquish their greatest fears in exchange for hopefulness. The standout track on this album is “Movies,” an ode to the artist’s love of the fantasy of film. The track begins with a flurry of synthesizers backing Mering’s haunting voice, opening with:

[su_quote]“This is how it feels to be in love / This is life from above.”[/su_quote]

By the 3:30-minute mark, the song takes a turn for the best when a larger than life violin melody comes in and soaring vocals exclaim:

[su_quote]“I wanna be in my own movie / I wanna be the star of mine.”[/su_quote]

Everyone dreams about living in a fantastical, dreamlike, almost cinematic version of their own reality. Weyes Blood is somehow reading all our diaries and innermost thoughts and creates soundscapes to let us bask in the afterglow of our own dreamy worlds. Even the album artwork itself perfectly exemplifies the vision of the album, a childhood bedroom submerged in water with Mering floating above it all.

Even though Mering is scared and worried for the world, it ever comes across as hateful, but rather a hopeful and bittersweet look. The record does feel like it’s namesake and it’s a slow sinking into the bottom of your heart, much like the closing track “Nearer to Thee,” which is a short one-minute instrumental ambient track painting  a vision of an ill-fated ship sinking in to the earth. In my times of intense fear, anxiety, and worry, I return to Mering’s music and feel a little more at peace with the world. Weyes Blood is smiling during the apocalypse, and I’ll smile along with her, as we stand in the crossfire.