Sounds Like:  I can’t deny it, this sounds like a heart is aglow.  

I was not prepared for this record, and it wrecked me. I like to listen to music while food shopping. Headphones makes that weekly chore so much more fun.  Anyway, I threw this onto a playlist, and it came up right in the middle of my shop, and it stopped me cold.  I feel like time and space had been rewritten, and I had to pull myself together in the face of such staggering beauty.

I hesitate to write too much here, because my words can’t do this album justice. Natalie Mering’s voice is flawless, grounded but ethereal. It completely envelops you. Couple that with the rich instrumentation, that includes harps and bells, and you are absolutely transported. The whole effect is disorienting.

The songs on “And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow” soar. The quieter sounds, like “God Turn Me Into A Flower,”  provide moments of sheer weightlessness.  So here you are, floating along, tumbling with these songs, each a feast for the ears. Then you start to pay attention to the lyrics. Deeply human, the songs on “And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow”  speak to the isolation, longing, and anxiety that we’ve all felt these last few years. Mering’s words are direct, and honest.

I learned that the name Weyes Blood originated after a Flannery O’Conner line, and that tracks. Like the Author, Weyes Blood has created a work of art that is staggering in both its humanity and its honesty. The effect is debilitating. It will leave you changed.  

Favorite Track: The whole record is an unforgmakele experience, but there is moment in the chorus of “Grapevine” that still gives me chills after countless listens.