When I first heard Weyes Blood, the voice threw me back in time 50 years. And yet, the production, the sounds surrounding it, and its personality helped it sound present and tangible. The sensation was unique, and I was surprised of knowing who was behind it.

Weyes Blood is the artistic name of Natalie Mering, a Californian 30 years old musician with a voice so amazing that is out of this world. Her fourth album, Titanic Rising, is a complex effort of orchestral pop where Mering is accompanied by richly textured string sections, piano and occasional synths, which together give the songs a piercing momentum. Production is pristine and every element of the music and the marvelous voice are mixed to sound clear and sharp.

I could say that you know what you’re in for just by seeing that awesome cover, which, by the way, is a real underwater picture (via Stereogum). But just as ambitious as the cover is, the album doesn’t hesitate in using different components to create a sound that somehow is perfect to carry Mering’s voice and still have a strength of its own. The first example is single ‘Andromeda’, its intro is a bit misleading with a first chord of acoustic guitar that hesitates before giving in to an organ and later, to Natalie’s voice. In the song she struggles to find love, one that means something. At the end of the chorus she sings: ‘I dare you to try’, like pushing herself to keep looking for that one love that fulfills her.

The album doesn’t settle in that type of vintage love song. The next track ‘Everyday’ is an up-tempo piano driven ballad where the core message: ´True love is making a comeback’ gets empowered by the spirited rhythm of the song and its detailed yet loose narrative. ‘Something To Believe’ explores similar themes and tones, with Mering’s powerful pipes carrying the song with such ease, that you feel its the result of decades of experience.

Third single ‘Movies’, and candidate to song of the year, is the undisputed climax of the album. A swirl of obscure synths open the song, later pushed to the background deftly by the production to give the spotlight to an ensemble of voices (all Natalie, I presume) that honor the song’s title by sounding astoundingly cinematic. The crescendos of the chorus are more than enough to have your heart rushing and your skin screaming of emotion. The narration is easy, Mering pays tribute to films and also states that she wants to be the protagonist of her own movie. A simple message until you hear her sing with a certain level of nostalgia: ‘the meaning of life doesn’t seem to shine like that screen’. Oh, if only we could see our lives as we see the ones portrayed in films.

In the last three songs of the album, Mering completes the circle with songs that fit perfectly to the mold of the previous seven. And, although you could consider it a ballads album, the most worthy of that title, and one of the most pretty songs here is ‘Picture Me Better’. It is simply more straightforward and melancholic than its predecesors. The track caps the album fittingly with its final lyric: ‘Waiting for something with meaning to come through soon’., followed by cascading strings that merge with the instrumental coda of the record.

Titanic Rising is not just another great effort from a talented singer-songwriter, it’s Weyes Blood’s magnum opus (so far), thanks to its amazing production (which Natalie Mering shares credit for), the use of beautiful narrative and arrangements and, then again, her superb voice that is propelled to the best results possible.