On Repeat: 'Andromeda' By Weyes Blood
Tristan Young @talltristan
For EP27 of Beats on Repeat we checked out the riveting ‘Andromeda’ from Weyes Blood’s recent album Titanic Rising (cool album art). Her fourth album takes pageant like balladry and spans it across sub nautical depths and celestial sprawls; there’s no better example in the record than ‘Andromeda’. In it Natalie Mering channels here inner Cat Stevens with a radiant and softened cadence. A reassuring folk like demeanour is coated with deeply regal elegance, creating something incomprehensibly intimidating and inviting. This tone seems well suited for her sentiments, focusing on in that the interstellar vastness of space there seems to be no one for her. “Andromeda is a big wide open galaxy, nothing it it for me except a heart that’s lazy”, she sings, pondering the merits of plummeting into the depths of tortured isolation, or settling for someone who will hurt her. Both her options are presented as down right fatalistic, to the point that when she calmly yet boldly sings, “if you think you can save me I dare you to try”, the stakes seem monumental. Aside from being a gorgeously delivered line, the transition from her elegiac vocals into blossoming and emotionally charged guitar strings is mesmerizing. The inflated notes wrench and writhe with virtue, as if each transition had to be suffered through with moralistic duty. The mixture of those guitars with a timid, ethereal synth line is one of the better instrumental combinations of the year. The way the guitar notation augments towards the end to be slightly more somber is stellar. These subtle complexities of the music are perfectly encapsulated when Mering sings, “treat me right, I’m still a good man’s daughter”. There’s so much to unpack with that line, it could be interpreted as melancholic resignation, or a desperate plea. The track in of itself is so densely populated with meaning and ambiguity, it begs to be explored endlessly. Whether it takes you to ruinous depths or ascends to a grand and beautiful enormity is up to you. We listened to ‘Andromeda’ on EP27 of the show. Listen to the full episode on iTunes or Spotify and don’t forget to subscribe. Check out the EP playlist over on Apple Music.