And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow arrived in November 2022 as the middle chapter of a trilogy Natalie Mering had been building since Titanic Rising in 2019, and it is the one that earns the word ambitious without apology. This is orchestral pop music that takes seriously the idea that songs can carry the weight of actual philosophical inquiry, and it mostly succeeds.

Mering writes about loneliness, spiritual searching, and the particular anxiety of living through a moment that feels both apocalyptic and mundane. These are not small themes, and she does not treat them as such. The arrangements are dense with strings, choral passages, and keyboard textures that build a sense of scale without ever becoming oppressive. The songs breathe even when they are at their most loaded.

The opening track “It Is What It Is” sets the tone with a melody that sounds like it has always existed, accompanied by production that fills every available space without feeling crowded. “Children of the Empire” is the most directly political moment on the record, and one of the most effective. “The Worst Is Done” is the kind of ballad that would have been a genuine radio hit in a different era of pop music.

There is a tradition of orchestral singer-songwriter records — Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, a handful of others — that And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow is clearly in conversation with. The fact that it holds its own in that company is the most useful thing you can say about it.