Natalie Mering, better known as Weyes Blood, dropped her new single “Grapevine” to join the track “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” released earlier this September. Known for her earnest storytelling and lyrics full of honest warmth, Mering delivers once again with “Grapevine.” This is the second single teasing her forthcoming album, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, to be released November 18th.
“Grapevine” is decadent and extravagant in all the best ways. It’s a song about the interconnectedness between ourselves and everyone we have ever loved — hurt is never fully healed, and love never lessens. We may never part with those ghosts from our pasts no matter how we try to distance ourselves. The grapevine is the connection that we all long for, keeping us intrinsically tied together even when “We’re just two cars passing by / On the Grapevine.”
Mering’s smooth and sonorous vocals are hopelessly romantic, singing of emotional cowboys “with no hat and no boots,” your car breaking down and thinking about a person who can “block your sun all day.” It’s a song meant to be listened to by the light of a kerosene lamp — it is elegant and warm; silken, lustrous instrumentation paints hues of purple and pink across the chorus.
For all of its sprawling and floating, “Grapevine” is anchored with soft, sweet acoustic guitar and measured drums. Mering’s vocals take on a mournful, ghostlike quality — lilting above the mix flush with rich strings and synths, a tolling bell and somber bass lines. It’s a slow build that feels lush and dense even as it begins to climb — resonant vocals lament lost love and passing cars, culminating in a wispy, sickly-sweet outro.
“Grapevine” leaves listeners waiting in earnest for what will surely be a hearty mouthful of an album to add to the Weyes Blood discography.
Daily Arts Writer Claire Sudol can be reached at cjsudol@umich.edu.