Titanic Rising
by Weyes Blood

Definitely an early contender for my favorite album of 2019 (along with Grey Area). Natalie Mering’s voice gives me Joni Mitchell and Nico vibes while still feeling completely new. The instrumentation is beautiful. There's the folky, twangy guitars, lush pianos, strings, synths... it's all perfect! Titanic Rising sounds like it exists outside of time too. It definitely has the folk and psychedelic sounds of the 60s and 70s but the production and mixing are all very modern. This is especially true on songs like Andromeda and Movies where the synth really transports you out of this world and into the future. I've already listened to the album three times and honestly I think my opinion of this album is only going to go up from here. Titanic Rising is an album I want to go around showing off to my friends. Can't say enough good things about it.

Certainly one of the most cinematic records I've heard. It's evident right away in "A Lot's Gonna Change", where Natalie invites us to hear the story of the younger more naive-and-in-love version of herself.

I think people are reading a bit too much into the concepts of the album. Simply put, it's a love story from beginning-to-end. The album conveys the overall arc of the relationship (from its genesis in "Andromeda" to its conclusion in "Picture Me Better") with all of the complications, bliss, and dread that come with it.

Weyes Blood's melodies are constantly beautiful and engaging. It is extremely dreamy and at times outright surreal (Movies) but despite sounding a lot like the album cover looks, the production is extremely clear and crisp.

The only misstep was that clunker of a final track. Sounds like a cheap copy-paste of the strings in A Lot's Gonna Change to try to bookend the album with the same melody. It feels out of place and tacky -- she should have simply ended with Picture Me Better. Still, this is only a minor gripe.

Just an outstanding record from front to back. Favorite of the year thus far.

10/10.

Favorite Tracks: Movies, Picture Me Better, A Lot's Gonna Change

From mdbaxter TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/10/2019 16:50 | #237381 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

I wanted to, and thought I would, like this album more than I did. I do like a lot of it but I thought that I'd eventually love it. From the beginning, the influences are prominent. It's easy to hear Pet Sounds and All Things Must Pass throughout; especially on "Everyday" and "Something to Believe". I found most of the lyrics to be phenomenal. More than once, I felt like I was being personally serenaded. The ability to take such complex feelings and summarize them in a couple of bars without losing any meaning is indicative of the artist's talent. The album encourages a great deal of introspection in a way that I have rarely encountered before. The only problems that I had with the album are that the middle section of songs is a bit weaker than the beginning and end. I'm not a big fan of "Movies". At points on the record, I don't think the music is as good as the songwriting. That probably isn't exactly what I mean but it's similar. My favorite songs are "Andromeda", "Everyday" and "Picture Me Better".

I mean, what is there to say? It's nigh-on perfect. This may seem like a strange thing to focus on, but the sequence of these tracks is so clever in the arc it creates, the songs themselves truly beautiful and haunting. Titanic Rising is one for the ages.

Amazing album, I didn't know the artist yet but on the first listen I was instantly hooked. Very pleasant sound with a bit of a psychedelic vibe. definitely my favourite of 2019 so far and a strong contender for my favourite album of 2019 in general.