“I figure, getting beaten up by the waves of truth, or reality, or information is part of getting thicker skin to keep going out there and seeking answers,” Weyes Blood – aka Natalie Mering – tells me over Zoom from Berlin. The Santa Monica-born singer-songwriter has now reached the European leg of her year-long world tour. “I like to think [touring] turns you into a unicorn, it’s like you are cornered into this weird valley of mythical lifestyles. Inevitably it's going to get wild” she adds, “it's going to get rocky, you know buses break down, sh*t happens, so we keep it light. I always love hearing my band laughing, we always try to make each other laugh.”
Our chat comes almost a year on from the release of the 35-year-old’s fifth studio album, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow, a sweeping body of work that dives head first into the human need for connection in an increasingly fragmented world; a sistering body of work to her previous album, the apocalyptic siren call, Titanic Rising (2019).
On Monday evening, her tour will arrive in the UK. “I am really excited," she says on her upcoming London show at the Eventim Apollo. “The last time I played London, whoever was working the lights poured so much fog onto the stage that I couldn't breathe. So, I am excited to roll up fog-free and just belt it,” says Mering.
It has certainly been a busy 12 months for the artist. Alongside her own dates, she's toured with Beck – whom she lists among her favourite gigs of the year, as well as London-based duo Jockstrap. When not on the road with Beck or occupied with her own show, she’s been busy performing alongside Caroline Polachek, Black Country, New Road and The Strokes. Ahead of today’s Grammy nominations announcement, Mering says she's rooting for her friends, Polachek and Lana Del Rey, “I would like to see Lana finally get a Grammy, like, please. You know?”
It’s good to know the difference between what people need and what the industry wants you to do to make more money
Beyond travelling the world via tour bus, Mering is also a self-proclaimed traveller of time, and honestly, it’s hard to disagree with her. Lyrically, visually, and in her musical arrangements, Mering weaves her way through past, present and future, a sort of musical apparition cloaked in all tenses. To listen to Weyes Blood is to be swept up in the bittersweet reveries of human consciousness and empathy.
Her music dives into the heart of the troubled times we live in, but without losing the essence of hope. Creating music that communicates this message is imperative to Mering: “it makes me feel I have done my job as a human on the planet if I can take some really weird, overly complicated, nuanced topic and make it into a transcendent piece of music. That is the goal.”
The sounds of Karen Carpenter, Julee Cruise, Kate Bush and Enya have all been mentioned alongside Weyes Blood’s own and she has been widely credited with keeping the spirit of Laurel Canyon alive. Her voice, and accompanying instruments, roll over like clouds of melancholia: Mering’s music is as timeless as it is timely. This is perhaps because she sees herself in every generation, “All the generations are more combined than people realise. It is really capitalism and modernity that have created these separations. I am a Boomer, a Gen X’er, a Millennial and a Gen Z’er. I don’t know if I am a Gen Alpha, but I feel I can relate to all generations. Maybe that is just a testament to me being a seeker, an explorer and a bit of a time traveller.”
With such a barrage of emotional exploration that has seen her work touch on the threat of climate change, loss of love and the crush of our digital world, how does she protect herself? Turns out, she doesn't really. “I figure getting beaten up by the waves of truth, or reality, or information is a part of getting thicker skin to keep going out there and seeking answers.”
Weathering the changing tides of the music industry by not straying from her chosen path is a form of self-protection for Mering, “I have been doing it long enough to watch the trends,” she says. “I have been so pleased to watch what I do come in and out of style. In light of that, I am really glad I never tried to be too trendy. It seems to have paid off that I have stayed true to my artistic guns. It’s good to know the difference between what people need and what the industry wants you to do to make more money. You can't compromise what you do as an artist to try to be relevant for two seconds, it is just not going to pan out.”
My drug of choice has always been weird, regrettable food late at night
The most salient direction Mering has received is tied up in the same sentiment: “My favourite advice artists give to each other is to make sure what you do is distinctive. I think that as people, we have become such conformists. We're actually living in a very homogenous world, which has its own fun appeal to it, but to me, being distinctive is closer to the philosophy of art that I believe in, versus following what everyone else is doing.”
As the new year approaches, Mering is looking forward to getting back to just playing music. “I think 2024 for me is about being a wanderer, just wandering around and writing and going to weird places that I have seen on tour but actually going back and experiencing them... and seeing my dog. I miss him so much.”
Ahead of her London show on Monday evening, Weyes Blood curates this week’s Friday night playlist. But what would be her ideal Friday night? “To have a great dinner and go to a party, kinda get ragey, and then maybe devolve into a weird karaoke situation. If it is a really naughty evening you’d get some very regrettable food at 3am to cap it off and then pass out. My drug of choice has always been weird, regrettable food late at night.
1. Madonna - Live to Tell
2. Madness - Our House
3. Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence
4. Squeeze - Cool for Cats
5. Love - Alone Again Or
