WEYES BLOOD - The Outside Room

Weyes Bluhd, but also Weyes Blood and Weyes Blood and the Dark Juices: there are many identities behind which the Californian Natalie Mering hides, already active, on vocals and guitar, in Jackie-O Motherfucker.

Having reached her third solo album, the Pennsylvania artist tries her hand at magnetic torch-songs, dominated by the esoteric syllables of the organ, sometimes accompanied by a dragging, limping drum ("Storms That Breed", for instance). While the deep, desolate register can't help but evoke the icy visions of Nico, the music, while following the indelible blueprint laid down by the great German artist, also drifts through the ineffable landscapes of Fursaxa and some of northern Europe's most mysterious ventures (Paavoharju, etc.): to back up this claim, one need only listen to the tormented, unsettling fresco of "The Isle Of Agnitio", which brings to mind a cosmic nightmare of Tangerine Dream grappling with the first rudiments of musique concrète.

Although she had already released two albums ("Evacuating Zombie Milk" and "Strange Chalices of Seeing"), it's only with this "The Outside Room" that Natalie can call herself satisfied for the first time, this being the first record she has truly worked on with care, over a span of at least four years (and in the ecstatic chanting of "Dream Song", you can almost sense the concentration with which these elusive sounds were blended together). More complex (mechanical interlocking parts, lysergic exhalations straight out of Pink Floyd's "casket of secrets" and a liturgical coda) is instead the setting of "Candyboy", while "Romneydale" (probably the album's little gem) strikes an admirable balance between earthly candor and a free-spirited soul.

The contrast, often heightened, between the darkness of an unfathomable mystery (listen, in this regard, to the menacing "His Song") and the blinding light that same mystery tries to embody, leaving the gaze dazed in the process, is the center of gravity around which these mystical sonic transfigurations revolve.

To be handled with care.

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

03/07/2011