Weyes Blood - And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow

 

'Sitting at this party. Wondering if anyone knows me. Really sees who I am. Oh it's been so long since I've felt knomw.'

Weyes Blood is back again. Finally. With more songs of ultimate heartbreak on a fascinating follow up to her fantastic 2019 album Titanic Rising. Her breakthrough record.

A lot has happened in the world since then. You don't need me to tell you. This record will. In great if elusive detail. Weyes Blood is a funny one. On the surface her songs are comforting confectionaries. Sugar coated portals back to  a more innocent time and most obviously those fabulous Carpenters records that some of us grew up with in the early Seventies. Me for instance.

But this is deceptive. I always get the sense of much more going on here. Post millennial unease. And in this perhaps the Carpenters are the key. They were hardly the happiest campers, even at the time of their gargantuan commercial peak. Watch the biopics. Their's was a story of intense, unbearable pain. Let's face it. You can hear that in the songs themselves. And they and the great MOR wave that soundtracked the early Seventies were a antidepressant gloss over one of the greatest crisis points of American history. Vietnam, Watergate, the Sixties dream gone.

And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, like Titanic Rising is not a straightforward record, But I do find it a fascinating one, and one I'll certainly return to on a regular basis over the coming weeks and months. It's the last late contender for my album chart for 2022 which is currently creeping down its late thirties. I'm not quite sure where it will end up but it will certainly feature.

The songs of And in the Darkness are precisely that. Locked in dreams that yearn for consummation but seem doomed never to achieve them. On the surface, songs of the greatest love but ultimately songs of  great loss. Fairy Tales.

Whether you relate to them may well depend on how you felt about Titanic Rising. You're hardly likely to embrace this if you didn't relate to that. And in the Darkness is ploughing a similar furrow and you may not think the songs are up to scratch this time.

As for me, she's got me once again. I think she's a fascinating and incredibly talented artist. Not quite like anyone operating on the Pop market right now. Buy it for Christmas as a gift for the Carpenters loving family member in your life. Particularly if they're not aware of her work. But keep the receipt, just in case.

*For more insight into this fascinating record, please go to this excellent review.