There She Is: Maya is back with new music
Weyes Blood’s album “Titanic Rising” has been on constant repeat for me since it’s release back in April, and if you haven’t already dissected every song, memorized every lyric, and been flexing your vocal muscles for the past couple months, I urge you to drop everything you’re doing and listen to “Movies.” Or better yet, watch the video.
Behold, an audience watching a movie rapt with attention, moved to tears, eager to climb a stage and hurl themselves into the screen if only to become one with this breathtaking source of awe. A song like “Movies” has that effect, pure and moving in that “jump into an underwater movie screen” type of way. Natalie Mering, the creative force that is Weyes Blood — fun fact, she named herself after the Flannery O’Connor novel Wise Blood and it’s pronounced the same way — has a voice that could shatter a glass house. And oftentimes, powerhouse vocalists can appear repetitive song after song, but Mering’s inventive arrangements and mixing keeps every track fresh, some light, some dark, all fully packed with depth and feeling.
“Natalie Mering, the creative force that is Weyes Blood — fun fact, she named herself after the Flannery O’Connor novel Wise Blood and it’s pronounced the same way — has a voice that could shatter a glass house.”
*Beyond the sound of the album, “Titanic Rising” has a poignant message about the environment, the destruction of earth, and the absence of love in that destruction. “Everyone's broken now / And no one knows just how / We could have all gotten so far from truth.” Weyes Blood’s intention with the album is awareness, not just to bum people out with the reality of climate change and dwindling emotional connection. “Get off your knees / No one can keep you down,” she reminds us on the opening track.
My favorite guilty pleasure Lana Del Rey recently dropped a cover of Sublime's "Doin' Time" — you know, "Summertime and the livin's easy, Bradley's on the microphone with ras m.g." — and it’ll make you wonder why she never formed her own Sublime cover band before this moment. Released as a track off the upcoming Sublime documentary, the single album art features Lana with loose curls and an open sultry pout almost like she fell down a Miami drain hole and resurfaced in a puff of weed smoke in Long Beach wearing a belly chain.
The rhythm on Lana’s version sounds more Latin inspired than full Long Beach reggae, hence the Miami drain hole imagery I’m getting. If you’re a fan at all of Sublime, or even nostalgic for their tunes, you’ll dig this.
For a quiet moment...
Jeff Buckley's cover of Bob Dylan's "If You See Her, Say Hello" is the kind of song that can make your heart swell with overwhelming emotion until it bursts. Recorded in 1993 and released on his album "Live at Sin-é," the song is true Buckley in his finest form: acoustic, raw, cascading with vibrato and tangible fervor, and unapologetically real.—Maya Eslami
*We just put together an official Inherent Bummer Spotify account, so follow along and keep an eye out for Maya’s playlists on there. They will do wonderful things for the vibes in your car, around your house and for those psychedelic dinner parties I do hope you’re hosting.
Just to get things going, Maya put together “Summer Bummer” which is flawless June Gloom meets sunny afternoons as we ease into summertime.—Travis
