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Children of the Empire

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"Children of the Empire"
Single by Weyes Blood
from the album And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
ReleasedApril 10, 2023 (2023-04-10)
Length6:03
LabelSub Pop
Songwriter(s)Natalie Mering
Producer(s)
Weyes Blood singles chronology
"God Turn Me into a Flower"
(2022) 		"Children of the Empire"
(2023) 		"Butterfly Net"
(2024)
Audio video
"Children of the Empire" on YouTube

"Children of the Empire" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Weyes Blood, included on her fifth studio album And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, released on November 18, 2022, by Sub Pop. The song was released to U.S. adult album alternative radio on April 10, 2023, as the fourth and final single from the album.[1] It was included in the set list of her In Holy Flux Tour.

Promotion

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Weyes Blood performed "Children of the Empire", along with other songs from And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow (2022), at concerts across different cities of the United States, including San Diego.[2]

Critical reception

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The song was named as "ambitious" by NME.[3] According to DIY Magazine, the title of the track feels "lifted from the dusty cover of a forgotten LP of ballads".[4] While reviewing the album, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote: "And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow gently bombards you with one fantastic tune after another: [...] the deceptively carefree-sounding 'Children of the Empire', surrounded by a complex, Brian Wilson-inspired arrangement that ultimately involves everything from tubular bells to a tuba, but never sounds overwrought".[5] For the same newspaper, critic Kitty Empire stated that the keyboards on the track "sound like a sour fairground calliope".[6]

Tom Taylor of Far Out imagined the "celestial crescendo" of the song as a moment that "make cinematic seem like an adjective fit to describe a church fête".[7] The Fader's Raphael Helfand described "Children of the Empire" as an "upbeat song dealing with heavy stuff", and Weyes Blood, in an interview for the magazine, stated that she wanted it to be "an anthem".[8] The New York Times reviewer Lindsay Zoladz praised the song's "gorgeous vocal melody" and the singer's "impassioned performance" that "lift it beyond its limitations".[9] Sophia McDonald for The Line of Best Fit explained that "lengthier tracks like [the song] pass by with ease, not feeling like six minutes".[10]

Charts

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Weekly chart performance for "Children of the Empire"
Chart (2023) Peak
position
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)[11] 38

References

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  1. ^ "Triple A Future Releases". All Access Music Group. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Rettig, James (December 7, 2022). "Watch Weyes Blood Debut Hearts Aglow Songs Live In San Diego". Stereogum. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  3. ^ Kemp, Ella (November 15, 2022). "Weyes Blood: inside one of the year's most breathtaking records". NME. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow". DIY. November 18, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  5. ^ Petridis, Alexis (November 17, 2022). "Weyes Blood: And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow review – gloom becomes a thing of beauty". The Guardian. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  6. ^ Empire, Kitty (February 11, 2023). "Weyes Blood review – torch songs for the end of time". The Guardian. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  7. ^ Taylor, Tom (November 18, 2022). "Album of the Week: Weyes Blood offers meditation amid the permacrisis with 'And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow'". Far Out. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  8. ^ Helfand, Raphael. "Weyes Blood's search for the signal in the noise". The Fader. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  9. ^ Zoladz, Lindsay (November 17, 2022). "Weyes Blood Gives Beautiful Voice to Global Pain". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  10. ^ McDonald, Sophia (November 19, 2022). "And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow is a record of remarkable contemplation from Weyes Blood". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  11. ^ "Weyes Blood Chart History (Adult Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
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