Weyes Blood

Natalie Laura Mering (born June 11, 1988), known professionally as Weyes Blood (formerly Weyes Bluhd; pronounced , like "wise blood"), is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.

She was primarily raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She has been performing her own material under variations of the name Weyes Blood since 2003. Mering's career began with her early involvement in the underground noise music scene and tenure as a member bassist of the Portland, Oregon-based experimental rock group Jackie-O Motherfucker and singer for the band Satanized.

As Weyes Bluhd, she released several projects that explored softer pop and folk sounds, especially her debut studio record Strange Chalices of Seeing (2007), before adopting the alternate moniker Weyes Blood to release her sophomore release The Outside Room (2011) on micro-label Not Not Fun Records. She then signed a recording contract with independent label Mexican Summer, releasing The Innocents (2014) and Front Row Seat to Earth (2016). She released her next two studio albums, Titanic Rising (2019) and And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (2022), via Sub Pop to critical acclaim.

Life and career 1988–2002: Early life Natalie Laura Mering was born on June 11, 1988, in Santa Monica, California, into a deeply religious born-again Pentecostal Christian family.

Mering's family moved several times throughout her childhood; she spent her early life in Scotts Valley, California Both her older brothers and parents are musicians and music played an important part in her upbringing. Her father, Sumner Mering, is a musician and guitarist who was in the Los Angeles new wave band Sumner in the late 1970s.

2003–2014: Career beginnings and The Innocents

At the age of 15, Mering began using the moniker Wise Blood (a reference to the 1952 Flannery O'Connor novel) to write songs. She changed to Weyes Bluhd on several self-released records before changing the spelling to Weyes Blood. After finishing high school, Mering relocated to Portland, Oregon to attend Lewis & Clark College, where she majored in music and had a radio show on the campus radio station. However, Mering dropped out after her first year of studies. and playing keyboards and singing with noise rock band Satanized. Uncut magazine described the album as "devotional and ethereal, but with an edge", while Beatbots found it "an impressive and ambitious album". Brett Abrahamsen later included the album on his "ten greatest albums of the 2010s" list. Mering released her second studio album in October 2014 called The Innocents, which was released through Mexican Summer. It was recorded in rural Pennsylvania, Mering's apartment and Gary's Electric Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. In 2016, she released her third studio album Front Row Seat to Earth, on Mexican Summer to critical acclaim, and toured throughout Europe and the States. Mering stated the songs on the album were largely inspired by the isolation she felt while living in New York. The album Titanic Rising was released by Sub Pop, on April 5, 2019 and received critical acclaim. Mering described Titanic Rising as "The Kinks meet WWII or Bob Seger meets Enya." Titanic Rising was described as a record about romantic disappointment, damaged reality, and finding hope.

The Titanic Rising album cover art was shot by underwater photographer Brett Stanley. His team, and a set designer, built an underwater teenage bedroom in a pool in Long Beach, California. In a two hour photoshoot session, before the set was destroyed by water, Stanley visually presented a life submerged in water and Mering rising above it. Mering described an adolescent's bedroom as a symbolic "subconscious altar", influenced by western culture. "The bedroom is an archetype. To me it stands for a lot of the silliness of our modern culture where the kind of things that we worship in our sacred spaces are based on media and movies because we don't really have much else in the way of myths, if that makes sense." The bedroom set's walls featured a series of posters—notably of her father, and Lou Reed. Mering was originally inspired by friend and artist Ariana Popedum-Metropolis, who gave her the concept of a bedroom album cover. Mering had researched old childhood bedrooms from the 1990s, and wall collage art. She was also influenced by the band The Magnetic Fields, and their use of a bedroom stage set.

The music video for her song "Movies", starred a Hollywood starlet looking at herself in the mirror, while underwater. "I experience movies, as these dark, psychological manipulations or something. My relationship to them is maybe a little more intense than most people." The album received high placements on the 2019 year-end and decade-end lists from publications such as Pitchfork, Uproxx, Paste, Uncut, Dazed, The Guardian, and NPR. Live performance highlights include sold-out tours in the US and Europe, as well as opening for Kacey Musgraves in the fall of 2019 and singing with Lana Del Rey at the Hollywood Bowl. On October 29, 2020, she helped canvass for the Democratic Socialists of America.

2022–present: And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow On September 12, 2022, Mering announced her fifth studio album And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow and released her first single, "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody" on the same day. The music video was inspired by Gene Kelly's Jerry the Mouse performance from the 1945 musical film Anchors Aweigh. Mering revealed that And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow was the second chapter in a trilogy of records that began with Titanic Rising in 2019 and introduced the album as a statement on the current state of the world, and the effects of capitalism, social media, and the rise of technology. "I think there's a hyper-isolation situation going on where technology has created this environment where people are expected to be completely self-sustainable and not interdependent on other people." The album's second single, "Grapevine", followed and was released on October 11, 2022. The song was named after the Californian Ridge Route highway, and was inspired by a personal break–up from a "narcissistic" musician.

On November 18, 2022, the album And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow was released and received critical acclaim, aggregating a weighted average score of 88 on Metacritic based on 24 critic reviews. The album's cover art was photographed by Neil Krug. Mering described the album as "Blade Runner meets Pride and Prejudice." Musically, she was inspired by the late British-American artist Scott Walker, and his series of 1960s innovative albums—in particular, Scott 3, and Scott 4.thumb In 2023, Mering embarked on the In Holy Flux Tour, a promotional tour for the album, where she traveled across North America and Europe. Mering performed at Coachella 2023, on the Park Stage at the 2023 Glastonbury Festival, and at the 2023 Fuji Rock Festival. The music video "God Turn Me Into a Flower" was a featured video on her tour, and was a retelling on the myth of Narcissus. The music video was directed by Adam Curtis. The music video for the song "Hearts Aglow" was directed by Neelam Khan Vela, and showcased as a visual collage of the tour, summarizing key moments. Weyes Blood performing in Stockholm, Sweden on January 30, 2023.

Collaborations

Mering collaborated with Drugdealer for his 2016 album The End of Comedy. She featured on his songs "Suddenly" and "The End of Comedy", appearing among other guest artists on the album. Mering was also heavily involved Tim Heidecker's 2020 concept album Fear of Death, singing on all twelve tracks, co-writing two, and receiving a co-producer credit.

In 2021, Mering and Zella Day released the topical song "Holocene". Day told Rolling Stone, "My hope is that 'Holocene' reminds people that the world is much bigger than ourselves. I've never lived through a world war but I imagine that what we are dealing with is comparable suffering on the global scale. This song poses the question of how we as the individual can move forward as well as how the world is going to begin healing. Time will and always does tell."

Mering received wider attention when she featured, along with Zella Day, on the closing track of Lana Del Rey's 2021 studio album Chemtrails over the Country Club, a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "For Free". Previously, in 2019, they performed the song in concert as an a capella trio. Del Rey has described Day and Mering as, "Some of the most talented singers in L.A., and maybe the world." For Del Rey's album, Mering was involved in the photoshoot by Neil Krug, dressed in an all black western attire.

Mering has toured and collaborated with Caroline Polachek. In 2022, Mering made a guest appearance serving coffee to Polachek in the music video for her song "Welcome to My Island". On February 7, 2024, they released an alternative remix version of Polachek's song "Butterfly Net", from her 2023 album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. The song appeared on the 'Everasking Edition' of the album.

In 2025, Mering reunited with Drugdealer by realising a new single and music video Real Thing, her first collaboration with the L.A. based artist after six years.

Mering also performed background vocals for the soundtrack of the 2025 comedy-drama film Marty Supreme.

Musical style and influences Mering's music has touched on a wide range of topics, including climate change. Mering's musical style has been labelled as chamber pop, psychedelic folk, soft rock, noise

Mering is highly influenced by the late singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson, in both singing style and song-writing. Mering has also been influenced by Joni Mitchell, Nico, and Judee Sill. She holds Mitchell in the highest regard and named Hejira as her favorite album.

In a 2022 interview with the Quietus, Mering listed thirteen albums that are influential to her: Alice Coltrane's Universal Consciousness, Ween's Quebec, Stevie Wonder's Talking Book, XTC's English Settlement, Vangelis's Opéra sauvage, the Roches's Speak, Joni Mitchell's Hejira, Cocteau Twins's Treasure, Syd Barrett's The Madcap Laughs, Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom, Lou Reed's The Bells, John Cale's Paris 1919, Can's Monster Movie.

Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected information Title Details Peak chart positions US USHeat USIndie GER NLD NZ SCO UK UKIndie UKAmer. Strange Chalices of Seeing Released: 2007 Label: Self-released Format: CD-R—————————— The Outside Room Released: May 10, 2011 Label: Not Not Fun Format: LP, cassette, digital download — — — — — — — — — — The Innocents Released: October 21, 2014 Label: Mexican Summer Format: LP, CD, digital download — — — — — — — — — — Front Row Seat to Earth Released: October 21, 2016 Label: Mexican Summer Format: LP, CD, digital download — 23 — — — — — — — — Titanic Rising Released: April 5, 2019 Label: Sub Pop Format: LP, CD, cassette, digital download — 3 6 — — — 20 68 7 1 And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow Released: November 18, 2022 Label: Sub Pop Format: LP, CD, cassette, digital download 111 1 18 68 76 30 14 27 2 2 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Extended plays + List of extended plays, with selected information Title Details Peak chart positions UKVinyl Angels in America / Weyes Blood Split Released: August 15, 2011 Label: Northern Spy Format: LP, digital download — Cardamom Times Released: October 19, 2015 Label: Mexican Summer Format: LP, digital download 3 Myths 002(alongside Ariel Pink) Released: January 27, 2017 Label: Mexican Summer Format: LP, digital download — Rough Trade Session Released: October 22, 2019 Label: Sub Pop Format: LP, digital download 23 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Soundtrack Year Title Role Notes2022 Cursed Films Original score composer Season 2 Minions: The Rise of Gru "You're No Good" 2025 Marty Supreme Additional vocals

Singles As lead artist + List of singles, showing year released and album name Title Year Peak chart positions Album USAAA "Some Winters" 2014 — The Innocents "Cardamom" 2015 — Cardamom Times "Seven Words" 2016 — Front Row Seat to Earth "Do You Need My Love" — "Generation Why" — "Tears on Fire" 2017 — Myths 002 "Andromeda" 2019 —Titanic Rising "Everyday" — "Movies" — "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody"2022 —And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow "Grapevine" 32 "God Turn Me into a Flower" — "Children of the Empire"2023 38"—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not issued in that region.

As featured artist + List of singles, showing year released and album name Title Year Album "My God" 2020 Imploding the Mirage: Deluxe "Oh How We Drift Away" Fear of Death "Holocene" 2021 "Butterfly Net" 2024 Desire, I Want to Turn Into You: Everasking Edition "Real Thing" 2025

Promotional singles + List of promotional singles, showing year released and album name Title Year Album"A Certain Kind"/"Everybody's Talkin'" 2017 A Certain Kind b/w Everybody's Talkin "Titanic Risen" 2021 Titanic Rising

Music videos + List of music videos, showing year released and directors Title Year Director(s) "Candy Boy" 2010 Unknown "Some Winters" 2014 Winston H Case "Bad Magic" 2015 Joey Frank "In the Beginning" Kai Davey-Bellin and Laura-Lynn Petrick "Seven Words" 2016 Charlotte Linden Ercoli Coe "Do You Need My Love?" Natalie Mering "Serpent Society" "Used to Be" Laura-Lynn Petrick "Tears on Fire" 2017 Charlotte Linden Ercoli Coe "Everyday" 2019 Natalie Mering "Movies" "Wild Time" 2020 "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody" 2022 Charlotte Ercoli "Grapevine" Rick Farin and Claire Farin "Hearts Aglow" 2023 Neelam Khan Vela "Twin Flame" Ambar Navarro "God Turn Me into a Flower" Adam Curtis "A Given Thing" 2024Joey Frank "Andromeda"Natalie Mering, Ambar Navarro, and Colton Stock

Guest appearances + List of non-single guest appearances, with other performing artists, showing year released and album name Title Year Other artist(s) Album "Jesse's Party" 2008 Raw Thrills Together Again "I Lost Something in the Hills" Drugs "Where" 2011 So Post "One Side Art" 2013 Essential Thrills "Early Birds of Babylon" 2012 Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Mature Themes "Suddenly" 2017 Drugdealer The End of Comedy "The End of Comedy" "Sides" Perfume Genius No Shape "Friend of Lindy Morrison" Kirin J. Callinan Bravado "Runnin' Outta Luck" Alex Cameron Forced Witness "Politics of Love" "Blessed Be the Meek (Let Me Be)" 2018 Raw Thrills Mondo Combo "God's Favorite Customer" Father John Misty God's Favorite Customer "Grey Area" Jerry Paper Like a Baby "Honey" 2019 Drugdealer Raw Honey "Fear of Death" (and entire album) 2020 Tim Heidecker Fear of Death "My God" The Killers Imploding the Mirage "For Free" (Joni Mitchell cover) 2021 Lana Del Rey and Zella Day Chemtrails over the Country Club "Story of Blood" 2022 John Cale Mercy "Begged" 2026 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love

Tours Headlining Something to Believe Tour (2019) In Holy Flux Tour (2022–2023)

Supporting Father John Misty – Pure Comedy Tour (2017) Beck and Phoenix – Summer Odyssey Tour (2023)

Awards and nominations Year Organisation Award Work Result 2020Libera Awards Best Indie Rock Album Titanic Rising 2023 Best Singer-Songwriter Album And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow