And In the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, Weyes Blood (6/10)

New Weyes Blood album dropped on 11/18/22. I've been sitting on this one for a while -- listening and re-listening, trying to decide if I should give it a 6 or a 7. People really love this album, some even saying it beats Weyes Blood's 2019 album, Titanic Rising. It's a really well produced and beautiful album with some fantastic songs, and I do think that Natalie Mering is one of the most talented vocalists alive today. The lyrics are also poetic and stunning as always. Some of my qualms: 1) "It's Not Just Me, It's Everybody" sounds too much to me like "Falls on me" by Sylvie 2) sometimes I think her songs sound too similar/run together 3) I think, at the end of the day, the reason I'm giving this a 6 is just because I don't love the genre. While I find the songs entrancing and beautiful, they aren't songs I'm going to listen to a lot or add to my playlists because the genre is just a bit too poppy/ballady for me. That said, I can agree that the music is really complex and beautiful and the instruments and voices and production are stellar. "God turn me into a flower" exemplifies this. But yeah, I probably won't be returning to most of these songs a lot, which is why I'm giving it a 6. Favorite tracks: God Turn Me Into a Flower, Hearts Aglow, Grapevine