Hello, and welcome to the final edition of No Skips. This idea for this column was born four weeks ago and has manifested into a product I am very proud of.
Let us unpack our final album on No Skips, Weyes Blood’s “Titanic Rising.” Weyes Blood, or Natalie Laura Mering, is an American singer who started her music career in Portland, Oregon when she attended Lewis and Clark College. While studying music there, she had a college radio show and got involved in the underground music scene. She released multiple works under three variations of her stage name — Wise Blood, Wise Bluhd, and Weyes Blood — and reached musical acclaim with the release of her 2019 album, “Titanic Rising.”
While the album only has ten songs on it, every one of them is phenomenal. This album has absolutely no skips and is the perfect album for me to wrap up this column with.
“Titanic Rising” opens with “A Lot’s Gonna Change,” a powerful piece that discusses growing up and facing changes. Weyes Blood reminisces on being a child and having no responsibilities — “If I could go back to a time before now / Before I ever fell down / Go back to a time when I was just a girl / When I had the whole world / Gently wrapped around me.” Her lyrics yearn for a simpler time when she was young and sheltered from the world. This song touches on the feelings many young adults experience when they turn 18 and have to confront the world as adults.
The next track on the album is “Andromeda,” which was the first song I found by Weyes Blood. Released as a promotional single, this track highlights Weyes Blood’s ability to craft phenomenal songs that showcase her musical talent. The soaring melodies and vocal skill she possesses are illustrated in “Andromeda.” I love that allusions to mythology, astronomy and love are woven throughout the track — especially in the lyric, “Andromeda’s a big wide open galaxy / Nothing in it for me / ‘Cept my heart that’s lazy / Runnin’ from my own life now / I’m really turnin’ some time / Looking up to the sky for something I may never find.” Weyes Blood is referring to a love that seems impossibly out of reach, but she still yearns for it.
Contrasting with earlier songs on the album, “Everyday” has a more upbeat melody. The inclusion of quick and briefly-played piano chords make the song feel happier and more jovial. The chorus of this song is accompanied by upbeat harmonies that make it so you can’t help but dance along. The track ends with what sounds like a ringing electric church organ — a fun, funky sound that ends the song on a high note.
“Something to Believe” returns to Weyes Blood’s signature ballad style. This is emphasized in the chorus when she sings, “I just lay down and cry” in a beautiful vibrato. This song has the fun background harmonies that are often included on her pieces. Strong harmonies and gorgeous backtracks that highlight piano are emphasized on “Something to Believe.”
The album continues to have no skips as it moves to the title track, “Titanic Rising.” The opening of the song builds from a softer angelic melody to a darker, more electric sound. There are no lyrics on this track and it serves as a transition between the first and second half of the album.
The start of the second half of the album is marked by “Movies,” which continues the electric — almost techno — sound “Titanic Rising” introduces. Weyes Blood sings this song in a lower register that is haunting and slow. It makes you hold on to every word she sings, especially when she draws out the vibrato in her voice. The harmonies on this track are stellar and make a shiver go down my spine every time I hear it. The most gorgeous part of this track plays at the chorus: “Put me in a movie and everyone will know me / You’ll be the star you know you are / The movies I watched when I was a kid / The hopes and the dreams / Don’t give credit to the real things / I love the movies.” Weyes Blood utilizes her unique talent of vibrato and lilting vocals to emphasize the line “I love the movies.” The techno transition started in “Titanic Rising” continues throughout the track and builds throughout the bridge and the outro into a swelling crescendo.
“Mirror Forever” opens with a darker, gloomier tone. Weyes Blood again utilizes her lower register in this song. With a more aggressive electric guitar interlude, this track continues the shift marked by the halfway point of the album. I particularly enjoy the lyric “But the timing’s spent / In this situation circumstance” — a) because of the phrase “situation circumstance” and b) because of the vocal styling Weyes Blood places on it.
The next song, “Wild Time” is another favorite of mine. It opens with vocalizing “ahs” that are accompanied by a soft piano melody. The result is an incredibly soft and soothing feeling. Reverting to the softer theme seen earlier in the album, the song continues to develop that feeling, particularly with the chorus. Melodic “ahs” continue throughout the song fluidly — highlighting the softness and smoothness of Weyes Blood’s voice.
The final two tracks, “Picture Me Better” and “Nearer to Thee,” continue to decrescendo back to the slower melodies of the opening tracks of the album. “Picture Me Better” is softer and reverts to Weyes Blood’s signature vocal stylings of soft and open lilting melodies. Weyes Blood wrote the song for a friend who sadly committed suicide while she was writing the album. It is a memorial for her friend and an emotional tribute to their life.
Like “Titanic Rising,” the final track, “Nearer to Thee,” has no lyrics. The melodies and harmonies on this track mirror the first song — “A Lot’s Gonna Change” — demonstrating Weyes Blood’s intentionally continuous themes throughout the album. She uses shifts and callbacks to show the full cycle of the album and create a cohesive listening experience.
The thought and intention she put into this album is why it garnered acclaim and has been deemed as a “no skips” album. If you miss a single song on the album, you miss a part of her storytelling. That is why “Titanic Raising” has no skips. The album shows the sweeping impact music can have and how an album can ebb and flow. Weyes Blood has a critical skill of being able to make a listener feel those ebbing emotions in time to her voice flowing. Her work on this album is phenomenal and one that everyone reading this column should listen to and appreciate.
As this album comes to an end with softer melodies, let’s bring this column to an end as well. Starting this column four weeks ago was a fun way to end my time at UConn and The Daily Campus and I’m so happy to have done it. I enjoy sharing my thoughts on music with each and every one of my dear readers and I hope I introduced you to at least one song or album that you can enjoy and share with others.
Peace out and enjoy all the music the world has to offer!