Weyes Blood

No thread for her so far? Touring the US at the moment and Europe next month. New album The Innocents is sounding pretty great.

love her songs, love her voice, love her overdubs

The Innocents is one of my favorites from 2014, but I hope she keeps doing the more lo-fi psychedelic thing too. I'm a big fan of "Candyboy" from The Outside Room: http://youtu.be/U-zhNVkuxv0

easily the best thing I've discovered so far in my crazed trawl thru everything anyone has nominates for the 2014 polls

the innocents is a truly mesmerising piece of art that deserves to be spoken of decades from now

I cosign the love

new music video shot by a drone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxs96Mmfu7A

is it pronounced "ways" or "wise"?

wise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q39iN1_q1g

new record is nice, totally not what i expected, i thought Weyes Blood was a noise band? did i imagine seeing them live in 2011? i think i might be mixing them up with Angels in America. anyway, this record is cool, really lush & detailed production, and i feel like her voice & mitski's voice & angel olsen's voice are all very similar. female baritone? idk

how have you heard it

got a promo

*seethes*

Name make it seem like they're an LA chicano rap band.

the advance tracks are great, so excited for this album

^ Completely. The two released tracks are beautiful. Such haunting, poignant depths to her melodies. Amongst my five favourite currently active singer-songwriters.

it's, what, her and Mitski? then who? exactly. NOBODY

angel olsen, lucy dacus my other 2 singer-songwriter indie albums this year

tt likes angel olsen. have never heard of dacus. will check 'em out

Weyes Blood is playing at a tiny tiny loft venue here, it's gonna be super packed and sweaty and nasty, i'm pissed

Does Richard Dawson count? I'll work on the rest. Thanks for the recommend flopson - will definitely listen.

She's playing here in November! We saw her before and it was lovely. Another completely tiny venue over a pub.

it wasn't packed and sweaty because maybe 6 people had turned up to see her, because the english are shit about liking good music or something

Y'all need to check out Circuit des Yeux/Haley Fohr

I thought I recognised the name Circuit des Yeux and I've just found it in my saved music. This new album will definitely be explored. First related artist as U.S. Girls is a huge bonus.

New Weyes Blood out October 21st, just to stay on topic...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWvmGwKiOe0

Chicago represent!

heh cool Circuit Des Yeux is weird as hell, i'm into it

Weyes Blood is definitely my favourite new discovery. Enjoy the songs she did on the drugdealer record as well.

All three advance singles have been INCREDIBLE. Latest one ends with an interpretation of Lay Lady Lay, following up The Outside Room's opening track and it's House Of The Rising Sun riff. Needless to say, it works spectacularly.

She's getting a massive Pitchfork push this time around, which is nice. But will they have the guts to give it 9+?

Fuck this record is so good

AOTY

seriously beautiful record, so excited to get deeper into it

yeah I mean

knock yourself out, ilx

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/13/497534567/first-listen-weyes-blood-front-row-seat-to-earth

http://www.thebeatjuice.com/trax/2016/10/13/18279/premiere-stream-the-gorgeous-new-weyes-blood-album-front-row-seat-to-earth/

Stunning record.

first impression: Seven Words is the best song on this, right? album seems very good, though every song's kinda the same with the trembly organ chords held for a loooong time... very nice sound but i miss some of the more peppy ramshackle buffy-st marie folky stuff like 'hang on'. maybe i'm in a bit of a glum mood and it's not helping

I put some we yes blood on last night when my gf's sister and her partner were over for dinner, and at one point when we were returning to the living room from the balcony for a cigarette, i paused and listened closely to catch the melody, and had to wait like 16 bars before I could make any sense of it! and this was the previous album which I've listened to dozens of times! the way the songs are written, with many cycling parts imperfectly overlapping, each cycle very long, it's easy to follow along if you come in at the beginning and follow along, but I really blown away by how difficult it was to reconstruct fro, within.

Do You Need My Love playing softly over the PA at a matinee im at rn

NOt heard the name pronounced so far, but I take it it's as in Flannery O'Connor/Foetus isn't it?

Have been impressed by what i've heard so far. So probably need to pick a few things up.

Wise Blood was also one of John Huston's last films starring Brad Dourif.

Flopson is otm here - "Seven Words" stands out. This record is a gorgeous homogenous slice of beauty with very few peaks and valleys. I completely relate to the themes of reconciliation and resignation, but this feels more like music to dwell in that than fight it.

New album is beautiful! First time hearing them and I think I'm in love.

It is a very impressive record, kinda unique? It's got a lot of rooted folky soul but also melodrama, but also moods that remind me of Enya... really not sure where to place it, but I like it

oh yeah, reminds me of Kate Bush and Shearwater too - the theatricality

best song is "Do You Need My Love"

i'm hearing that song EVERYWHERE out and about at all the same places that played Courtney Barnett's "Depreston" a year ago

movie theaters, cabs, restaurants, public PA's i can't place

so who's going to the gig tonight

btw this album is proper incredible like

In truth this album destabilizes me. I can relate to these lyrics on such a level that it's a sublime. It's a beautiful album.

Nice video here:

http://pitchfork.com/tv/51-live/1908-weyes-blood-perform-do-you-need-my-love-in-a-haunting-session/

She was amazing live, really amazing, and her band were perfect. Launched into a Soft Machine cover as the encore too. Hackney didn't really know what to make of her, which was a shame.

kinda dry production on that live session video, feels a bit lifeless

would love to see her live though

Ariel Pink/Weyes Blood collaborative EP out at the end of this month.

was inititally turned off by the ariel pink associations & first listen didn't grab me but this has really gotten its hooks in me....quite a beautiful album

not stylistically (not much jazz or r&b in this), but there's some spirit here some sadness that reminds me of laura nyro

a conversation w/ WB & john cale just appeared in my twitter feed:

http://www.vogue.com/13520883/john-cale-weyes-blood-interview/

i really hate to be that guy but i've listened to tears on fire a couple of times and it just makes me want AP to get back to his 'roots'.

I can't find much to dislike

Is the full EP out there? I've listened to Tears on Fire nonstop for the last couple of days. It's very addictive.

It's out and it's good. In fact I prefer some of it to her last album, which was mostly quite down-trodden but beautiful nonetheless. Especially like the callback to Shangri-Las girl group narration on the second track.

Saw them live in SF for Noise Pop. Good god is Natalie Mering's voice is incredible. Well worth checking out if they're nearby.

Yeah she strikes me as the real thing

I love their new record. Are the older ones good too?

Are "they" a band now? When I saw Weyes Blood it was just Mering backed by tapes.

they're a really good band, soft machine covers and all (and yeah when I saw 'them' first it was just her)

It was Nilsson covers when I saw her.

maybe it was just a special treat for her british audience

For lack of a better term she's a part of the A Pink "family" in LA. Shares 5hags with Pink's touring band. Video directed by Pink's girlfriend. Etc

Sorry for staring the obvious. Just trying and failing to make the point that she's the band. Like No Joy is Jasmine's, Lansing Dreiden is Jorge's and so on.

The further back you go, the noisier her music gets, and the melodies turn medieval. The Outside Room is excellent in a very different way - more like Marissa Nadler collaborating with Demdike Stare.

Oh wow... OK that sounds interesting.

I meant to type "her" above. There is no band

excellent new single

i segued into it right in the middle of the new susanne sundfor album and tt didn't even notice, they've converged somewhat lol

what's the new one called? It's passed me by completely

'a certain kind'

good 'everybody's talkin'' cover on the b-side too. releasing singles with b-sides in 2017 is a cool move and i endorse it

Oh cool, she's been playing "Everybody's Talkin" at live shows for a few years now

still absolutely can't fucking believe brainwashed.com readers voted FRSTE the second-WORST album of last year. proper fucking neckbeard shit

maybe weyes blood triggers sensitive swansbro morons particularly effectively

gira sucks

was she particularly vocal in larkin's corner

or are these people simply threatened by a woman daring to write psych-pop

The single is so great, I was just thinking/hoping she'd release studio versions of those covers a few days ago!

Oh shit I didn't realise the A-side was that awesome Soft Machine cover she'd been doing!

Yeah! I so hope to see her play it in concert one day 🙏 It wasn't on the setlist (yet) for her great great great Raleigh show last... November? A couple of days before the election, ugh.

Her last EP is up there but that last LP sums up heartbreak so well and the fall out of a relationship. A +

Ariel pink collab is some of her finest stuff

Wouldn't go that far, but it's very good. Her last two solo albums have been amongst the best music of the decade

Absolutely love the last full length but there's a playfulness on the EP that's a nice change

Yes - and in the covers single from last year as well. It will be extremely interesting to see what her next move is.

damn thanks for the reminder regarding the covers imago, will check again

The second verse of Used To Be should be sent into space as a document of humanity

^ yeah!

couldn't find any posts or threads but i think this band has something to do with weyes blood? lush psych, excellent stuff

https://oldenyolk.bandcamp.com/

Very good record, that one. What's the Weyes Blood connection?

ya this is nice

i think they did a split w/ weyes blood and possibly shared a member or two at some point

man if lana del rey had put out 'front row seat to earth' yall wdve gone *apeshit*

Not enough swear words.

not enough going for the most obvious melody in any given situation

that's harsh, ldr isn't bad. but god what did weyes blood have to do to get everyone's attention. she even wrote do you need my love' and got shrugs

Maybe it would help if she re-wrote a famous Radiohead song.

But seriously, the reason why LDR gets so much more attention is because she's had a lot of mainstream success and Weyes Blood hasn't.

also maybe sooooooomething to do with image? they are both extremely pretty but LDR makes much more of a show of it/her visage

also Weyes Blood's music was pretty "weird" before Front Row

Weyes rules. Drug dealer collbs dope too

Imago otm

LL otm

Lana Del Rey is a pop singer-songwriter and superstar because that's what she is; Weyes Blood is an indie singer-songwriter with a cult following because that's what she is. Two different worlds. You might as well ask why Ariel Pink doesn't get the same pop star hype as Abel Tesfaye.

Would you not agree though that the last WB album was full of brilliant pop songs, though, or that LDR has quite a bit of indie cred?

Her songs are clearly too progressive in that they don't always end where they began.

I honestly haven't paid much attention to WB in the past couple of years! I love her voice and I think she has great taste but her productions don't sound very poppy to me? Pop music is extremely hi-def & quantized & autotuned these days & that's not really a vibe I envision her pursuing. She keeps the rough edges in her music iirc. I personally liked her best when her recordings had lots of tape hiss, e.g. "Candyboy"

As for Lana Del Rey, I know only what I read and the very little I've heard, but she seems very invested in that hi-def world.

The aforementioned 'Do You Need My Love' got quite a bit of airplay and a glowing Pitchfork write-up. I definitely think she's gone pop, in a 70s kind of way.

I bumped this thread because the two new LDR songs ILM was slavering over sounded a bit like watered-down Weyes Blood to my ears

Is the new LDR album really called "Norman Fucking Rockwell"? That's a pretty funny joke that will get old very fast.

Maybe a bit better than that (Venice Bitch being far superior to the other one) but certainly along similar lines

LDR channels Lee Hazlewood eccentricities, but Weyes Blood seems to be an actual eccentric like Hazlewood. Or what crut said about pop vs. cult.

I think imago is saying weyes is underrated

No way is it watered down ldr tho man

Retract ?

Christine McVie vibes on this one https://open.spotify.com/track/40PRp88YqFp5fM0MtG2j1N?si=N4Wl5gWSQOyEMSQArqdSJw

new https://open.spotify.com/track/0L6lVIgGqVHnmR3BIy8GHa

beautiful track, and an instant earworm

keep listening to andromeda again and again. it's wonderful. melodically more pleasing than anything on front row, and i love the lead guitar.

"melodically more pleasing than anything on front row"

strong disagree. but it is lovely and I'm excited for what's next

new album, Titanic Rising, is out April 5.
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/files/2019/02/weyes-blood-titanic-rising.jpg
1. A Lot’s Gonna Change
2. Andromeda
3. Everyday
4. Something to Believe
5. Titanic Rising
6. Movies
7. Mirror Forever
8. Wild Time
9. Picture Me Better
10. Nearer To Thee

i prefer the art released with Andromeda
https://subpop-wysiwyg.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1547682611625-WeyesBlood_Andromeda_600.jpg

Awesome!

Andromeda the better of the two advance singles so far but she's definitely going for something pretty singular

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ-BFlTo5ag

wait a second
i just watched the first 36 seconds of that video before i realized this is 100% not what i thought "weyes blood" sounded like

haha me too ... this sounds like aimee mann (not a complaint, it's good!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CsvKUoGzXk

this is streaming on the sub pop site if you pre-ordered the album. on first listen nothing stood out like Andromeda has. gonna listen again now.

you mean the album is streaming???

this song is awesome obv

yes

if i were to hypothetically pre-order the album now, i could hear the stream, is what you're saying

interesting

i would like to hear more about how it compares to her previous stuff

fav songs on second listen are Movies, based around a synth arpeggio which builds up with mult-track vocals and then a break down with violin following the synth and builds again, and Mirror Forever which has a nice synthy guitar lead and the most interesting melody/lyrics
a lot of the other songs are based around piano and strings.
title track is a short washy synth instrumental. final song is a short strings/synth instrumental.

o yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFtRq6t3jOo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlykn_KSQ3o

ooh

btw this album has gone OFF on RYM. haven't heard it yet but...wow

For ppl who have yet to preorder:

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/28/705506270/first-listen-weyes-blood-titanic-rising

ah right ok let's go

ok, my feeling is: good, not as good as the previous two, but i can sort of understand why RYM has gone berserk - they've basically been asleep for three albums. also this has a bigger sound and everyone loves that

that is your feeling after one listen, is that correct?

two listens! it might be a grower too

also fuck you - who are you to patronise me like that

sorry, that was a bit strong

and maybe alpine static knows something i don't, because this is growing on me now

I understand the high quality but just it is just not my cup of tea. Feeling wins over logic.

this record kinda reminds me of Mitski's Be The Cowboy - not sonically, but it's a very strong, solid, well-crafted record that feels like a mass appeal-ready crystallization of the artist's vision, with maybe just a teensy tiny bit too much of the rough edge polished off.

Be The Cowboy was top 10 worthy, and so is Titanic Rising.

they are probably the two best current songwriters

listening to this again this morning...i don't know why i ever doubted it, this is incredible. as you say, it is more widely-appealing than the early stuff, but it hits this amazing space-psych vibe that it sustains throughout. it's ecstatic for its vision

be the cowboy is definitely mitski's best imo and time will tell if this is weyes blood's

Waiting for this one to come out, but I adored her last one. One thing though - the vinyl mastering of Front Row Seat to Earth was shite. Hopefully the budget for this one's physical release is better. Can't wait to hear it

idk there's something ironic about her style.

i wish there were more upbeat songs on this record, like Everyday

well, i'm getting blown away here

:)

the whole thing is amazing but wait, just wait, until 'wild time'

As the songwriter said in a recent press statement, "It's about losing your interest in trying to be in love. Everybody is their own galaxy, their own separate entity. There is a feeling of needing to be saved, and that's a lot to ask of people."

relatable, i gotta say

not a lot of records make me think of odessey & oracle more than once

brb just got swallowed up by "movies"

not a lot of records make me think of odessey & oracle more than once

― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Sunday, March 31, 2019 3:30 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes!!! i mean that is the level of songwriting here

wow "movies" ruined my fucking life

it just doesn't stop coming at you

aoty

New one sounds great! What a singer.

I've only really heard the last album (and not the new one yet) but I've never particularly associated Weyes Blood with a "rough edge".

I was trying to think of who she reminded me off, then finally my brain gave me Ron Sexsmith, of all people.

The reminded me of A Girl Called Eddy on the first listen. Maybe less so now.

not a lot of records make me think of odessey & oracle more than once

― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Sunday, March 31, 2019 3:30 PM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes!!! i mean that is the level of songwriting here

― PPL+AI=NS (imago), Sunday, March 31, 2019 10:34 AM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

damn O&O comparisons from brad and imago, i'm excited

does anyone else hear a tiny little rhythmic (or something) misfire at 1:10 of Everyday? right when she says "things"

Gorgeous album.

Every one of her songs is a journey

aoty so far

after how many listens? ;)

(but...yeah)

I love that this and Julia Holter's "Aviary" have appeared within just a short time of each other. They're almost companion pieces to my ears.

Not hearing The Zombies in this as much as flickers of other beloved folks: Karen Carpenter (that voice!), Emmylou Harris, "I Talk To The Wind" by King Crimson ("Wild Time"), ...

I love that this and Julia Holter's "Aviary" have appeared within just a short time of each other. They're almost companion pieces to my ears.

I suspect imago will have something to say about this ;)

I could not get with her first record, but this is gorgeous so far (on first listen).

zombies comparison was mostly a reaction to how immediate and sharp yet unexpected the melodies are in this context

bring it :)

and imago otm re "Wild Time".

yeah, otm. I can see that.

This is altogether stronger than Front Row Seat to Earth, just as good as The Innocents, and almost certainly album of the year. I love how comfortably she displays her influences whilst merging them with her own radical, intergalactic folk. I hear a bit of Pet Sounds in this and, like everyone says, The Carpenters. Though lyrically and atmospherically more hopeless-seeming, I still find this way more upbeat than the last album. The first song kicking in almost killed me - I love how that bit is the first impression people new to Weyes Blood will receive.

I'm new to her and think I'm going to hold off exploring her previous albums for awhile. Can't imagine them being as good as this.

People who like this will probably like Nathalie Prass' excellent debut album too (which is very different from her sophomore album from last year), much of it is in the same vein.

For some reason, I forgot she had albums before Front Row Seat, guess I need to go back and check those out too.

This new album really reminds me of Heidi Berry.

<q>after how many listens? ;)

(but...yeah)

― PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, April 5, 2019 12:52 AM</q>

haha, you got me. fair enough. :)

answer: maybe 10 listens over a week or so? (which i'm not saying is enough to declare an album of the year.)

ah crap ...

after how many listens? ;)

(but...yeah)

― PPL+AI=NS (imago), Friday, April 5, 2019 12:52 AM (eight hours ago)

haha, you got me. fair enough. :)

answer: maybe 10 listens over a week or so? (which i'm not saying is enough to declare an album of the year.)

This is gorgeous so far....don't know if anyone is into Catherine Howe's What a Beautiful Place but kinda similar vibes and equally great

Also has she confirmed the title is a reference to the show Homecoming? cuz it feels like it kinda has to be

It's a reference to Titanic, the movie, as she said in an interview somewhere

It reminds me of John Grant more than anything else. There's a generally similar early 70s well being drawn upon, granted, but I tend to hear it in the voice as well -- a certain, careful form of performative control. It's not a cloning or imitation, more a matter of how to use a voice to a distinct end. The relative coolness doesn't hide warmth or empathy, but there's a real sense of a guard up that, far from being forbidding, renders the music all the more empathetic as a whole.

xpost there's this whole scene in Homecoming where this returned home war vet is telling a story about a joke they played on another soldier in Iraq who's favorite movie was Titanic, they elaborately convince him there's a sequel called Titanic Rising, and he's obsessed with getting it etc but they convince the guys at the PX to say that they can't order Titanic Rising, anyway it's a great scene and obv seems pretty weird if they both thought of it but maybe it's a coincidence who knows

who is it that her (extremely wonderful) voice reminds me of?

Karen Carpenter.

Theres a lot of Todd Rundgren' Something/Anything style arrangments here,which is wonderful.

Tracks 2,3,4,8 are masterpieces imo.
Don't really care about the rest (yet?!).

Can't stand Movies.

"It's not a cloning or imitation"

Xpost

Is it? The line between being authentic and ironuc is very thin here.
Either way, pastiche or not, i like it

"seems pretty weird if they both thought of it but maybe it's a coincidence who knows"

She claims it's a coincidence

I wasn’t crazy about Movies when I first heard it either, but gradually, in anticipation of the last third of the song, it has become one of the stand-outs for me.

Mirror Forever was the one I woke up with in my head today

A Lot's Gonna Change was the one I woke up with in my head today

I'm struggling to connect with this a little, it sounds lovely when it's on but it's not drawing me in as much as Front Row Seat To Earth did. If I had to put my finger what was missing this time it's the art of the sublime chord change which really elevated the best songs on the last album.

Obviously her voice is great but she sings almost everything in the same way, which kinda makes the album slip past a little without quite touching the sides.

This is my initial feeling as well (fwiw 'Generation Why' was the highlight of FRSTE for me) but I hope to be proven wrong by the 20th spin.

that's pretty much what happened to me

weird that this one hit me so immediately idk

i feel sort of similarly to matt, except i do prefer this one to FRSTE. it sounds great, the songs are memorable enough, lovely arrangements etc. but i'm not really feeling that drawn to it. maybe it's just that the thing she seems to be doing very well on this album isn't really something i want out of music at the moment that much?

I've just realised how incredibly much Movies reminds me of both the opening and closing theme from the Mishima OST. (Not that that's a bad thing)

Funny that the one song I think is the weakest ("Movies" ) is the one most critics seem drawn to on this. Still, a near perfect album for me.

Is it? The line between being authentic and ironuc is very thin here.

Referring specifically to her vis a vis Grant in my comparison.

Have been listening to this on repeat all weekend and I'm pretty sure it's a masterpiece.

On first listen its a lovely album but not as good as The Innocents but one listen isn't enough.

Movies is wonderful though.

This is so great. Also a little perplexed at how much love Movies is being given above all other tracks when there are so many brilliant songs here.

Chord progression on Wild Time reminds me of Karma Police.

is that an actual Glass sample on "Movies"?

The first part of Wild Time when she sings those "pa pa pa pa"'s (which can also be heard on Something to Believe) is so great.

Too bad she abandons this melody afterwards for something else.

Still, great song.

I'm so in love with this. The second half of the album is perfect. Mirror Forever and Wild Time are the ones that have been stuck in my head for the last couple of days.

I listened to this album without knowing her previous work and at first I thought it sounded good but the songs didn't seem very memorable...
Then after listening again a couple of times, it all clicked and... wow, I love this album !
Her voice, the complex songwriting/harmonic structures, the production and arrangements... it's all fantastic.
Some melodies/chord changes may not seem very strong at first but once you get them, they're so deep and beautiful.
Agreed that "Movies" is kind of a standalone piece in the middle of an otherwise pretty cohesive album.
But it's quite something. A kind of spiritual piece.

This is such an impressively produced album, her voice is a miracle

I find the songs topically uninteresting and the melody/chord choices to be that frustrating place where the added 7ths and chromaticism just create a kind of emotional formlessness

I find the production fairly consistent but the songwriting really diverse, sometimes I hear ABBA, sometimes Jim O’Rourke, sometimes Beach House, and a lot of times Rufus Wainwright

Does anyone think her voice is a bit like Aimee Mann's? A little bit like Thom Yorke on 'Andromeda Rising' too.

After listening to this a few more times, I think it might have been better if they had changed the tracklisting a little.

Maybe it's because I'm more familiar with the first part (including "Movies") than with the second part but I think the begining is stronger.
Especially since "Movies" is such a special and huge beast which kinda breaks the flow of the album and after it there are only 3 songs and an instrumental, the whole thing is a bit unbalanced imo ("Wild Time' is great but "Mirror Forever" and "Picture Me Better" might be the weaker tracks on the album).
I think it works better to put "Nearer to Thee" as a musical interlude in the middle of the album, after "Something to Believe", and move "Titanic Rising" and "Movies" to the end of the album (the two go well together and it's difficult to put ANYTHING after "Movies").
I've remade it that way in my spotify library !

Yep. The albun sounds better after you get used to it. Something To Believe is the best song in here. Surprised it's not a single. Yet?!

i like this but i think the last album is better

this is the type of production that scans as impressive so i'm not surprised it's gonna be seen as the best, but the last one let things breathe a bit more in a way i like better

both fine albums though

‘hang on’ still her best song

opening 7 tracks of The Innocents every bit as good as the next two albums yeah

Oh so not knowing her previous stuff I understand there’s much better stuff to discover ?
That’s good news considering how I love this album !

ok, i am now officially addicted to her music.

Also, the Front Row record is very underrated and as good as Titanic imo

Not bad. Not addicted here (yet).

Ann Powers of NPR has now acclaimed on twitter

I might be in the minority here in thinking Front Row Seat to Earth is her best and as good as if not still better than Titanic

I also think Front Row Seat to Earth is her best. I'm still not hearing what a lot of people in this thread are hearing in Titanic Rising, it's still registering as a not bad but ultimately disappointing followup to Front Row Seat. I'm going to keep listening though, maybe I'll figure it out.

I think FRSTE is marginally her best as well but I also think both of these are 10/10 all-time albums

Ann's acclaim was tacked on to a very strange NPR Music tweet touting a First Listen stream and stating that this record is out May 3.

It was out in early April.

Even WB retweeted and was like "OK, sure, let's release it again"

Weird!

This is a very beautiful record. Can definitely hear Rufus Wainwright in a couple of the melodies. Can see why Movies keeps being namechecked- it stands out sonically from everything else in palette, but I don’t think it’s especially stronger than anything else here.

Interested to hear previous albums if people think this isn’t the best.

The Pinefox and I went to see her in London last week and she was incredible. Threw in a low key cover of 'God Only Knows' and completely owned it. A very charming and funny stage presence as well. Would like to hear a performance with a full orchestra at some point - presumably in the autumn before it cleans up in all the albums of the year polls.

Ah I planned to see her this friday but I’ve just injured my foot so I doubt I can make it !

I keep coming back to this - almost despite myself. My issue with it, I think, is her (incredible) voice seems to swoop and soar with each melody line, filling the available sonic space, when I'd like to hear the tracks breathe a bit, letting the instrumentation carry out some of the melodic work. I've explained that really badly and, anyway, I really like it so it's not a criticism as such.

Also, I didn't know she was in Jackie-O Motherfucker. Props.

Front Row has some prog influences, almost no guitar, it's kinda lo-fi, more indie and a little weird. It contains 3 masterpieces: Do you need my love, Diary and Used to be. It has some fillers too.

Titanc is more accessible, beautifully produced,first half is almost perfect. Something to believe is the best song here imo.

Both are great for different reasons. Hard to compare. But the best songs in Front Row are better than thoae of Titanic. my 2 cents.

would largely agree

except I wouldn't class anything on either album as filler

Yeah, filler is not the right word. less good than the rest maybe

It's not really filler, but both albums kind of burn me out about halfway through. I still love them though.

Yeah first halves of both records combined wouldve been a masterpiece record for the ages

The best tracks off these two albums and the Innocents would make for quite the record, but the weaker tracks are still v good

Here singing is so much better and versatile after The Innocents. It didn't occur to me she had such a beutiful voice before Front Row.

She's hitting more of those big notes on Titanic Rising, holding back much less vocally.

Anyone seen her live of late? I have a ticket for tonight's show but I'm not really in showgoing mood

we missed her but apparently amazing, do it imo

i missed the vancouver show - sold out - but knew a bunch of people there and they said it was great

It's wild that she;s back here only four months later in a venue at least 4x the size

still aoty on rym btw

I slept on tickets for the Austin show, I really need to stop doing that.

on the plus side, they could scan the barcode right off your face

If only it were that simple :'(

New album is the first I've heard and I love it. Sounds like I should work backwards from there?

saw her Tuesday night and it was great. excellent band, nice harmonies from the woman on bass and keys. she's charming and funny.

saw her Tuesday night and it was great. excellent band, nice harmonies from the woman on bass and keys. she's charming and funny.

― by the light of the burning Citroën

Yeah, I was at that show and really enjoyed it. The band were fantastic, especially the backing vocals as you say. The guitarist at the back was great too. His playing towards the end of Do You Need My Love really made it so powerful. Her voice is so incredible live. One of the best shows I've seen in a long time.

I won't spoil it just in case people are going to see her soon, but the cover she did was so gorgeous.

Network television debut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYu2ow947qc

Huh only now ? I love this album but this is not a very good performance, unfortunately...

I've tried with WB but I'm just not a fan of her voice - sort of crucial so the last two records haven't stuck with me at all

That's a great suit though.

Killer!

She has an amazing voice imo. And the latest album is amazing. But this is an awkward performance. Maybe stress or something. I can’t believe she’s not bigger at this point.

Front Row is much better than Titanic if only because Do You Need My Love and Used To Be: melodies in the same hige level as the best of Todd Rundgren/Kate Bush/Zombies.
Might be my favorite artist od the decade.

those are probably her two best songs yeah

I'm in the same boat of favoring Front Row Seat over Titanic

i wouldn't be surprised if she will sign with a big mainstream label for her next record.

FRSTE over Titanic yes but they're both incredible

sandy denny vibez

i think her voice sounds great in that Late Night performance!

I much prefer Titanic, even though the second half is a bit weaker and I would have sequenced it differently (as I posted upthread).
I like FRSTE but the best songs on Titanic simply hit me stronger.

I will say this about supposed weaker track Picture Me Better: months later, it now slays me every time. We really did find a winter for its sweater

Picture me Better is one of my favorites on this. I only started liking this album when I started listening to the second half first and then loop back to the first half.

I don't know, maybe it's just that I don't like Andromeda and putting that track second just tainted the whole rest of the album for me on my initial listens.

Since hearing Titanic a few months ago and considering it to be one of the albums of the decade, I'm strangely finding the previous material strangely hasn't clicked at all so far.

Man, "Wild Time" is allll time. What a great song.

seriously

Yeah "Wild Time" is fantastic. I love the one note piano part during the verses.
And that track sounds so warm.
Perfect Autumn song !

concert in berlin tonight is sold out, i am such a sleepyhead!

Aaaah, I had the same problem in Paris a few months ago, realizing too late she was gonna play in town, so I booked tickets for a concert in another city not too far but then I couldn't go because of an injury...
She was here again a few days ago but it was only for the P4K festival and I couldn't bother attend a whole festival (+ I was already busy that night anyway).

A good album.

Man, "Wild Time" is allll time. What a great song.

Goosebumps at the vocal delivery on "you just did what you had toooooo"

Saw her live a week ago, on the last show of her current tour. Great performance, incredible vocals, tight band (especially the girl on bass, keys and b/v whose name I unfortunately forgot); she was also quite charismatic as a perfomer and there's a certain old-fashioned star quality to her. She played the whole new album (sans the instrumental interludes albeit the title track was used as a pre-recorded intro), a bunch of songs from Front Row Seat to Earth, and then closed with an encore of "Do You Need My Love", a cover of "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (lol), and a solo version of "In the Beginning". I'd definitely recommend seeing her if she comes anywhere near you - I went in as an appreciator and came out as a fan.

Zak (Raw Thrills) & Natalie Mering's (Weyes Blood) Mother's first album, Pamela Mering - Childhood Train, limited copies available, self released in 2008. Carole King, Joni Mitchell & Linda Ronstadt Vibe:

https://gunktvrecords.bandcamp.com/album/childhood-train

"Andromeda" = song of the year

It remained my album of the year, too.

Good song Someting to Believe is better though imo

Xpost

Gorgeous new song that no one talks about sonehow:

https://youtu.be/DIX1Ftka7U0

i didn't know about it! but it is great!

Sounds like her old ,folky style. I wonder is if it's an unreleased old track or a new recorded one.

that is amazing. from the atmosphere it reminds me of joni mitchell's first album without the warble.

lovely

superb as ever

wondering how much to break my one-track-per-artist rule in the eoy traxpoll

how in the hell had I never heard her before yesterday. stunning record

man if lana del rey had put out 'front row seat to earth' yall wdve gone *apeshit*

― imago, Wednesday, 19 September 2018 16:38 (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

lol

Just discovered her last week. Awesome new album. Get Karen Carpenter vibes off her for some reason.

she does sound like karen carpenter

yeah, i just listened to this yesterday because of the poll, and here i am on my fourth listen already! i haven't listened to her in a few albums, but i'll have to go back and check them out! i didn't realize she had this whole carole king + nilsson thing that seems to come effortlessly

did she arrange everything too? they're lovely, throughout

Love how similar the first few seconds of Andromeda and Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft are

Like this album a lot but 'Everyday' really sticks out like a sore thumb, the jauntiness doesn't suit her somehow. Like she's hit on one style at which she is exceptional but when she deviates from that it feels forced?

Disagree. Good song, Todd Rundgren style, kinda

otoh i find it one of the better songs on record ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I really hope her success won't ruin her future music, like it did to so many artists before who got closer to mainstream.

ROCKIST!

Everyday was the song that got me into the album. It's a highlight

“Everyday” is about dating terrible dudes off Tinder iirc

last 2 mins of Everyday was definitely one of my tippy top musical highlights of 2019

i love how it somehow manages to interpolate both Strawberry Fields and Girl while being knitted out of the same material as Penny Lane

Fits really well where it is I think. As great as the record gets, the opening 3 (Lot's Gonna Change > Andromeda > Everyday) is my favourite part.

Listening to her first album, from 2011, for the first time. It’s like a noisier Grouper. Not what I was expecting based on the newest album.

yeah its quite a change eh

discovered WB recently through my friend's quarantine playlist including "Something to Believe." it rules and i just hyped it on the Solo Beatles Poll thread because it reminded me so much of a George album cut with John playing piano. high time i dig into the rest of her stuff.

new album in november reputedly titled And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow:

🚨🚨🚨NEW WEYES BLOOD ALBUM “AND IN THE DARKNESS, HEARTS AGLOW” COMING IN NOVEMBER! 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/dfnD7gxTFJ

— conn-corde 🌩 (@carryymeout) September 8, 2022

Great news! I was hoping it was coming this year.

New song sounds like hook-less Carole King

Yeah, the melody sounds like the weakest TR tracks

Which means it's good,but not great.Too monotonous.

Sounds nice, doesn't make a huge impression, but it's track 1 on the album so maybe it sets the mood.

In other news, she's playing near me on my birthday. There's almost never a show I want to see on my birthday; pretty rad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ2lWUk_Rzk

This is the last song, live.

Same vibe, more or less

xpost I saw her on my birthday just before covid started and it was the best gift I could have given myself!

BTW Daniel Lopatin, and Mary Lattimore featured on the album, cool!

Mary....oh god

And 0PN, deep in his cocaine-wacko era? Fucksake

for litigious reasons i will further state that it merely sounds like he is coked out of his mind every time he opens his mouth to say how great he is and how great being rich is

thankfully this advance single is so good that Lattimore can't ruin it :D

'hookless' 'monotonous' you're about to witness imago, stan

the final go-around of the chorus is more important than some entire months

And 0PN, deep in his cocaine-wacko era? Fucksake

is this his current era? lol cocaine-wacko feels like a good way to describe the sound of Garden of Delete

I mean, I love how it sounds. Just wish it was in the service of something more than *vibes*. It has tons of potential.

Been reading rumours that after this gentle introduction, the album is darker, noisier and weirder than previous (if not her initial) works, which is v exciting if true

She's a Vangelis fan, supposedly. So see where 0PN may slot in being that he did a very decent V pastiche for his "Uncut Gems" score.

I really liked the way the song unwinds more on a second, less distracted listen.

On another note, I know this is part and parcel of how kids relate to their favorite musicians now, but it's weird to see a Weyes Blood tweet announcing new music and see so many replies calling her "Mother;" "Mother is blessing us once again; Mother is mothering so hard right now," etc. I imagine I'd be so weirded out if I was a young, female musician making this kind of music.

Welcome to RYM-era stanning. It is kinda gross but a lot of it comes from queer youths who may well have IRL family issues. LINGUA IGNOTA gets the same and kinda owns it? Anyway, I'm sure the stans will find a new way to relate before long

You, call her mummy. Me, I wear the Innocents-era tour shirt to show I got there first. We are not etc

It might have surprised me more because there are other artists like Phoebe Bridgers who are more active on social media and thus seem to cultivate that sort of community dynamic more. I guess I was oblivious that WB had as well, although I'm sure working with Lana helped.

she is going to be playing one of the larger venues in Austin, I'd like to see her play, but I'm not sure I really would enjoy it on that scale

I like this new single after a few times and it seems to grow on me the more I listen to it. Just like the previous album which I didn’t particularly enjoy at first then it clicked and I loved it soooo much. Anyway happy to have a new album from her soon.

funny to read all these comments because i'm connecting to this more immediately than i do to most of her stuff. it does feel like an album intro, or thesis statement of a kind. it's a very simple sentiment, not especially poetic, and one that's been echoed a lot during the pandemic, but it's rendered very beautifully and the directness of it should help establish a baseline of a worldview that is explored in more detail in subsequent songs.

love that philip glass melody that pops in for a second towards the end

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcdz30a-sdM

Beautiful melody (even when it is somewhat forced on the lyrics here and there).

The Moody Blues doing Dream Pop production is great too.

Really 70s Vangelis feel in this one, especially in the chorus.

fantastic song. awful final chord resolution. willing to look past this

As usual with her albums, Side 1 is excellen while side 2 is mainly just ok.

I get a very heavy Aimee Mann vibe from her. This is not a bad thing.

Need more listens, but the new one's kinda boring, I fear.

Wonderful album

Seems v good if not top-level for her. Hearts Aglow itself is quite something. Will require more listens

I’m really enjoying it so far

challop: God Turn Me Into A Flower is the worst thing here, just a very dull chord sequence, RYM consensus over it is baffling

Yeah, it's a nice song but far from the best here imo (Grapevine,Empire, Twin Flame)

God Turn Me Into A Flower is the best thing I’ve heard in years, holy shit. Thrilled to discover she’s playing Manchester next Spring too.

This has really grown on me.

Each record is taking more effort to grow on me. I love the craft, but miss the obliqueness. I'm holding out hope for her incorporating her origins at some point, and creating the Karen-Carpenter-Sings-Desertshore album I dream about.

This new one is too samey lyrically and musically compared to the prescience and variety of “Titanic Rising”. Have to give it a few more listens. So far it sounds like a step down.

I wouldn't mind samey, for me it's the lack of dynamics / kick, the numb sixties music under narcotics, that prevents me from truly engaging with her (indeed otherwise well crafted) music. I agree the three songs noted by Nostormo are the best by a fair margin here.

Actually I would have said opener + hearts aglow + twin flame, but I also like Empire

I’ve really tried with this one. Big step down from Titanic for me.

Same. Supposedly this is the middle of a trilogy. I might leave it for now, til the final part is out.

mainly I guess it's just bumming me out too much. Empire Strikes Back in a world without Return of the Jedi ennit

"The Worst Is Done" is basically the exact realization of my greatest fears about how Songs About The Pandemic might have turned out. The worst thing she's ever written.

Saw her live this week. She's great. Really like "It's not just me"

(although Front Row Seat remains my fave by a mile)

average indie act number 63463567547something

man, really contributing to the discourse there, huh, caustic

would be intrigued to see the working on that one. whose songwriting is weyes blood's comparable to

Caustic did the same thing in some other tread I saw. Ignore.

Front Row Seat is my fav too, glad I saw here when she was touring for it. She was wryly sassy and charismatic on stage, and made me love her even more for it.

imo the followup, Titanic Wrysing, was even better!

I'm seeing her in a couple weeks - looking forward to it! I think the last time I saw her was 2014??

Having a fun conversation on Nico with the Jokermen pod guys

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jokermen/id1519299517?i=1000597165410

Man, this album.

I listened to Hearts Aglow most recently on a long nocturnal walk by Lake Ontario on the Friday before Christmas - probably my most uplifting memory of last year. I felt like it opened the emotional door to a post-pandemic way of life that I had been wary of.
Now I see that night as the completion of a personal arc that was started by listening to Lana Del Rey's NFR! on a long country drive on Thanksgiving weekend 2019, and the disaster that I felt it clearly foreboded but whose form wouldn't be known for a few months. I do often feel like disaster's on the way, but rarely crystallized neatly in album form.