Listen: Drugdealer and Weyes Blood Reconnect on “Real Thing”

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Drugdealer and Weyes Blood have returned today with “Real Thing,” the latest in a chain of celebrated collaborations between Michael Collins and Natalie Mering. The fresh cut from the pillars of sun-kissed psychedelia and chamber-folk-pop is two years in the making and their first team effort since 2019; neither has released anything more than a single since their respective 2022 records Hiding in Plain Sight and And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow. To accompany the long-awaited return, teased last week with an AI-slop social post, they’ve shared an official music video directed by James Manson.

The creative exchange between Collins and Mering dates back to a spontaneous session in 2014, and their shared knack for lavish, halcyon soft rock has given rise to the singles “Suddenly” and “The End of Comedy” from the former’s 2016 debut and “Honey,” from his 2019 follow-up Raw Honey. “Since then, I’ve felt like she’s my musical family,” Collins shared. “I can’t really ask for more in terms of someone who inspired me to even get to this place in my songwriting.”

Collins got the ball rolling on “Real Thing” in Paris, where a crossing with producer Max Baby at a studio owned by a member of ‘70s French prog giants Magma spun a lingering chord progression into a full-fledged demo. “Immediately I realized that it was the perfect thing to show Nat, who I had been wanting to collaborate with again for years,” Collins recalled. “After that we started working on it via multiple trips back and forth across the US, and it just became one of my favorite things we’ve ever done.”

While Collins and Mering are no strangers to lush arrangements, the baroque touches on “Real Thing” are glitzier than ever before. Over a warm, easygoing and subtly funky backing, brightened by a tight fervor of strings and a mighty smooth saxophone breakdown, Mering unfurls a story of lucky love and chimes like the ‘70s Coke jingle when she hits the title line. “Natalie took the wheel and really wrote such amazing lyrics and harmonies as usual,” Collins said. Everyone seems glad for the reunion in the video, and Collins speaks with a Southie accent for some reason. Check it out below.