By Maggie Ineno
2022 is coming to an end…but not without three new singles from Weyes Blood! I can say she’s been quite generous to her listeners this year with her singles titled, “You’re No Good,” “It’s Not Just Me, Its Everybody,” and “Grapevine” Titanic Rising never gets, old of course, but hearing some fresh transcending lyrics of hope and wishful thinking is something I am so thankful for. Her break-out album, Titanic Rising stunned listeners with it’s “otherworldy” charm. The following new singles seem to float right along her previous style, but with a few stray strands. Starting with “You’re No Good,” released July 1st 2022 as a part of Illuminations “Minions” movie soundtrack, her lyrical choices are that of well… a breakup? Having not watched the Minion movie and not wanting to reveal any spoilers, I’m assuming she was asked to produce a song of that genre. Whatever the reason, hearing her sing more upbeat tunes is something listeners don’t get to do often. Moving on to “Its Not Just Me, It’s Everybody,” Weyes Blood goes back to her classic whimsicality. The first few seconds of the song are similar to the sounds of an angelic “unveiling,” something she has done in various songs before. The lyrics are left for each person to interpret, but I was especially touched by her remarks about loneliness, and how its hard for her to hold on things because they escape her so easily (The “hole in my hand”). Instrumentally, the song was beautiful and almost orchestral with the features of violin, harp, and piano. There is a steady snare drum beat throughout the song, which doesn’t allow the sound to just melt. Lastly, her most recent release “Grapevine,” came as surprise to me at first listen. Not often is Weyes Blood an artist that you can search on Guitar Tabs and cover. The song begins with a simple guitar chord progression and then slowly builds to a simple, yet anything but lackluster combination of instruments and back vocals. This song features violin, bells, guitar, bass, and of course some other sounds that are hard to tell if electronically produced or just heavily altered. Lyrically, I’ll be honest and say that it almost reminds me of something Lana Del Rey would sing about. “California’s my body, and your fire runs over me. My car broke down in an old ghost town, right around where they got James Dean. Emotional cowboy, with no hat and no boots, he stayed up all night trying to beat up the moon.” Not to make an academic citation or anything, but damn… Lana is that you?? Overall, these three singles have blessed ears, and are only building more excitement for a potential new album release.