Weyes Blood comes-of-age with ‘In The Beginning’

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?Having released two albums, The Innocents (Mexican Summer) and Outside Room (Not Not Fun Records), Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering, indulges in a brief pause with Cardamom Times (released in October). The video for the EP’s single, “In The Beginning,” lies rooted in the past as it carries an acoustic ballad with classic folk guitar, harmonies, and chord-driven organ.
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? “I’m still learning to be free and not so somber,” Mering sings, while coasting through the Northern California wilderness — fleeing from and searching for something.
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?Directors Kai Davey-Bellin and Laura Lynn Petrick, known for nonlinear chops and super 8 shorts, revive the simplicity and deliberation of solitude through antiquated style. Mering uses her voice as the main instrument, a musical evolution channeling the likes of Tim Buckley and Nick Drake. Their influence is evident in Mering's gently echoing voice, as she carves floating, grandiose pathways for the accompaniment to follow. “In The Beginning,” is a somber confessional, an expression of harsh truths that unfold like journal entries, avowing the adoption of a new set of rules by which to live.
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?The track is filled with personal vows that are set in motion as a person spends time alone, grows, and finds comfort with the true self. The video illustrates this quest, as Mering explores the natural world around her while exploring herself. The song resists firm rhythm, favoring a muted bass line and acoustic finger-picking. This fluidity comes across visually as Mering searches her surroundings without pressure or purpose. At a creek she disrobes, the choir kicks in, the organ swells, and there is an implied baptism. A sense of mourning the past, but also a rebirth, Mering is coming into her own. “In the beginning, I was all dreams. Times have changed, I am no longer the same.”
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?Weyes Blood playes 529 tonight (Mon., Dec. 14) with Pamela & Her Sons, SoBrite, and Fluffy Sweat. Free (donations at the door). 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769. www.529atlanta.com.