LOST HORIZONS

WEYES BLOOD

Front Row Seat to Earth This is an album that’s hard to describe without referencing other artists, but whether you think of Pink Floyd’s gloomy grooves, the Zombies’ post-modern harmonies or even Kate Bush’s lyrical lilt, Natalie Mering is in great company. Across Front Row Seat to Earth’s nine sprawling songs, Mering dissects the quirks of her humanity, meditating on her emotions from a distance. On “Seven Words,” the chanteuse addresses an old love with bitterly lucid words, pondering, “If I could change how I’m insane / If I could learn to leave my troubles behind.” Like most of the songs on the album, it starts with a simple chord progression before eventually branching out into powerful, proggy arrangements. Front Row Seat might not be the most immediate record released this year, but it never turns its back on you. Accessible without ever being simple, it’s one worth getting into, even if the way is labyrinthine. (Mexican Summer, mexicansummer.com) MATHIAS PAGEAU

WHAT DOES FRONTROWSEATTOEARTH MEAN?

I was thinking of a stage where there’s a performance. You’re trying to be close to the action, there’s supposed to be no barrier between you and the stage. It’s symbolic of being in a first world country and witnessing the globalized community and how that affects our perception of the world — it’s a bit disconnected. It’s kind of like we’re watching it from the safety of an audience standpoint. The iPhone is this personal front row seat, but you’re just looking into a screen.

WHAT DO ELECTRONICS SIGNIFY FOR YOU?

It’s freedom. I’ve always been very progressive. And as much as I play old world music, I have this progressive tenacity to keep going and keep adding futuristic elements in really subtle ways where you won’t notice. So there are a lot of weird digital things going on on the record that kind of blend in with the folk in a way that they’re not jarring. I look forward to getting deeper on that on the next album and exploring more synthesizers. SARAH GREENE