Weyes Blood Shares Poignant New California Odyssey ‘Grapevine’

Weyes Blood embarks on an epic and emotional adventure through California with her new song, “Grapevine.” The track will appear on Weyes Blood’s next album, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, which will arrive Nov. 18 via Sub Pop

The sprawling song is anchored by Natalie Mering’s acoustic guitar but expands outward with an ornamental arrangement flush with rich harmonies, bells, and strings. Lyrically, Mering mixes two classic themes — lonesome roads and lonesome hearts — with “Grapevine” taking its title from a stretch of Interstate 5 that runs through Southern California.

On the final verse, Mering sings, “Never really got to say goodbye and/It hits me for the first time/Now we’re just two cars passing by/On the grapevine.”

In a statement, Mering said of the song, “Technology is harvesting our attention away from each other. We all have a ‘Grapevine’ entwined around our past with unresolved wounds and pain. Being in love doesn’t necessarily mean being together. Why else do so many love songs yearn for a connection?”

“Grapevine” is the second offering from And In the Darkness, following “It’s Not Just Me.” And in the Darkness follows Weyes Blood’s celebrated 2019 LP, Titanic Rising; the two records are part of a trilogy that grapples with themes of universal despair and climate change. 

Weyes Blood will play a pair of shows in Los Angeles this December in support of And In the Darkness before kicking off a full tour next year. The North American leg launches Feb. 22 in Nashville and wraps April 2 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.