"In the beginning, I was convinced by patriarchal, white males that authenticity was a certain level of rawness and unsophisticated expression. But then I realized that that’s not true at all—authenticity is not somebody who is ignorant of things. I finally had to come to terms with the fact that I sang well, in an “old-school” way, and that was just as authentic, because it was coming from my soul [...] In Europe, you can sing like a crazy opera singer and people are down. In America, we don’t have that old-world influence".
Natalie Mering, Pitchfork
We can all be thankful that Natalie Mering (who performs under the stage name of Weyes Blood) decided to break away from the mould of the male-dominated Pennsylvania hardcore scene where she first started out, and embraced her classical leanings instead. As NPR's Jewly Hight has noted, "vocal poise is one of Mering's greatest expressive tools". Hight notes that Mering is influenced by "the voices of '60s folksingers like Joan Baez and Mary Travers, '70s soft rockers like Karen Carpenter, and Celtic new-age stylists like Enya — particularly their dulcet timbres, cursive phrasing and willowy vibratos", making her a refreshing anomaly in a pop landscape that seems to be contaminated by Auto-Tune and the desire for robotic precision.
Mering is back in Salton Sea for "Used to Be", the same location where she shot the music video for "Generation Why". Instead of philosophizing about the modern selfie generation and unsustainable consumption patterns, however, this time she croons - with angelic grace - about intimacy and idealism, dressed in the resplendent aquamarine shot she wore on the album cover of Front Row Seat to Earth:
'In spite of being so late to the gameI won't fight fateIt's now too lateUsed to be the one that knew meSaw through meUsed to be the one that knewAnd every morning when I riseThose cold, blue eyes aren't here tooThe worst came trueThe binds that break off and shatter offWhen you fall down from the topAnd your heart stops'
Lyrics:
While frolicking around the Cabezon Dinosaurs (a roadside attraction located near Palm Springs, California), Mering's magnificent alto soars and sweeps over you like a majestic wave, while director's Laura-Lynn Petrick Super 8 footage channels that epic nostalgia straight into the heart's core.
