[2] Mering's career began with her early involvement in the underground noise music scene and tenure as a member bassist of the Portland, Oregon-based experimental rock group Jackie-O Motherfucker[3] and singer for the band Satanized.

She then signed a recording contract with independent label Mexican Summer, releasing The Innocents (2014) and Front Row Seat to Earth (2016).

"[8] Mering's family moved several times throughout her childhood; she spent her early life in Scotts Valley, California[9] before they settled in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in 1999, where she attended high school.

[8] At the age of 15, Mering began using the moniker Wise Blood (a reference to the 1952 Flannery O'Connor novel) to write songs.

"[21] In 2016, she released her third studio album Front Row Seat to Earth, on Mexican Summer to critical acclaim, and toured throughout Europe and the States.

[22] NPR wrote that the album re-examines "intimacy and idealism in ways that showcase Mering's gift for measuring and mediating heady emotions.

His team, and a set designer, built an underwater teenage bedroom in a pool in Long Beach, California.

To me it stands for a lot of the silliness of our modern culture where the kind of things that we worship in our sacred spaces are based on media and movies because we don’t really have much else in the way of myths, if that makes sense."

Mering was originally inspired by friend and artist Ariana Popedum-Metropolis, who gave her the concept of a bedroom album cover.

[29] The album received high placements on the 2019 year-end and decade-end lists from publications such as Pitchfork, Uproxx, Paste, Uncut, Dazed, The Guardian, and NPR.

[30] On July 16, 2019, Mering had her television debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she performed her single "Everyday" from Titanic Rising.

[31] Live performance highlights include sold-out tours in the US and Europe, as well as opening for Kacey Musgraves in the fall of 2019 and singing with Lana Del Rey at the Hollywood Bowl.

Mering introduced the album as a statement on the current state of the world, and the effects of capitalism, social media, and the rise of technology.

[42] The music video for the song "Hearts Aglow" was directed by Neelam Khan Vela, and showcased as a visual collage of the tour, summarizing key moments.

[44] Mering was also heavily involved Tim Heidecker's 2020 concept album Fear of Death, singing on all twelve tracks, co-writing two, and receiving a co-producer credit.

"[46] Mering received wider attention when she featured, along with Zella Day, on the closing track of Lana Del Rey's 2021 studio album Chemtrails over the Country Club, a cover version of Joni Mitchell's "For Free".

"[48] For Del Rey's album, Mering was involved in the photoshoot by Neil Krug, dressed in an all black western attire.

In 2022, Mering made a guest appearance serving coffee to Polachek in the music video for her song "Welcome to My Island".

[50] On February 7, 2024, they released an alterative remix version of Polachek's song "Butterfly Net", from her 2023 album Desire, I Want to Turn Into You.

[57] Mering tends to emulate men over women artists, however, she has also been influenced by Joni Mitchell, Nico, and Judee Sill.

In a 2021 Mojo magazine article on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Blue, Mering talked about Mitchell's song "My Old Man".

She described Joni's general sound as "blues and gospel meets jazz" and how "it's her individual timing and strangeness that gives it the transcending feel.