Weyes Blood is the modern reincarnation of your wildest ’70s psych-rock dreams. The 31-year-old artist, whose real name is Natalie Mering, has somehow both carved out her own contemporary niche within the genre while simultaneously immersing herself in its past—while her sound is undeniably distinct, you might not think twice if you heard one of her songs pop up on Spotify’s Legacy of Laurel Canyon playlist.
Earlier today, Mering released a new self-directed video for her song “Wild Time,” a track from her 2019 album Titanic Rising. The video, shot on 16 mm film before the pandemic began, is yet another homage to the golden era of ’70s psychadelia. The video begins by following Mering as she wanders through the forest and strums her guitar, a warm light falling through the treetops and dancing on the surface of a stream. The camera then follows her down to a river, where a group of women blissfully frolics in the swift current, paint smeared down their backs and flower petals bobbing downstream. As the film speeds up, colors blurring and images fusing, the footage shifts to the same group of women, including Mering, coating themselves in phosphorescent neon paint, the film accelerating into a trippy and vibrant finale.
In addition to the video’s heavenly cinematography, “Wild Time” is a song that itself is a cathartic take on the present circumstances. “(It) felt like the right time to let this video out into the world, seeing as we’re all getting saddled down by some pretty grim realities” Mering said in a letter to fans. “This song is about yearning for wildness and Mother Nature in a time of chaos. It’s for sensitive people who worry about the fate of humanity and feel powerless to do anything about it.”
“We’re animals, we play out a very precarious drama of life,” she continued, “and we grasp for what’s left of the protective womb – but maybe the notion that we’re somehow separated from her is an illusion. Maybe it is, truly, a wild time to be alive.”
Mering also announced a 2021 album in the works: “I am canceling all of my headline shows for 2020, but I’m beginning to work on my next album that will come out in 2021- a different time, when hopefully we can see each other face to face once again.”
Watch the lovely video for “Wild Time” below. Further down, revisit Weyes Blood’s 2015 Daytrotter session.
