The Head And The Heart – The Head And The Heart

So many decisions in life and in the music we love can come down to a critical tug between the logic in our heads and the hot red blood beating through our hearts. Seattle’s The Head and the Heart live authentically in that crux, finding joy and beauty wedged there. Their music pulses effervescently—both explosively danceable and intuitively intelligent. With Americana roots and strong vocal harmonics that swell like a river, this band finds its anchor in solid songwriting that has even the jaded humming along by the second listen.

The songs pick at the multicolored threads of leaving home, finding home, and through that process of deconstruction, finding yourself. These are songs about crossing rivers and roads to get to the one you love, about family far away, and the desire to chase Technicolor dreams down foreign horizons. When people hear these songs, or see the band live, the first thing they have to do is tell someone else. Their shows are, simply, one hell of a lot of breathless fun. From the first months of the band's life, their reputation as a phenomenal live band has preceded them wherever they play.

The band entered Seattle's Studio Litho in early 2010 to record these songs that had been kicking and twisting in the catalytic development of their live show. Recorded by Shawn Simmons at Studio Litho and Steven Aguilar at Bearhead Studio, the band was selling burned copies in handmade denim sleeves at local shows within a few weeks. Self-released in June 2010, the debut album helped build an impressive head-of-steam for the band through the second 1/2 of the year, gaining fans at influential Seattle station KEXP, local record shops (a consistent top 10 seller for Easy Street and the #1 album of 2010 at Sonic Boom), and venues up and down the West Coast, culminating with signing to Sub Pop Records in November. For the 2011 re-release of the album, "Sounds like Hallelujah" has been re-recorded, live favorite "Rivers and Roads" has been added, and the album has been re-mastered.

The strength of Josiah, Jon and Charity's vocal harmonies on the album makes it feel like these three were born to pour their voices together, as the band's songs revel in jaunty bass lines with ebullient handclaps peppering the best moments. A palette of orchestral elements weave their way through the album, including cello, glockenspiel, and violin, all shading in the songs' development. For all the times your toes tap while enjoying this band, often the lightness will deceptively belie the depth of ache in the lyrics when you sit down to really listen. There is magic in the music, but not magic contrived by trickery or posturing.

“It seems actually that the more genuine and honest we are in the songwriting and performing, the more people relate to that transparency,” Charity muses. This is an album for people who unabashedly sing and drum along on the steering wheel, and also for those who appreciate a well-crafted collection of songs that build into something wholly beautiful. There is in this music a counter-cultural optimism, with roots that grow deep and melodies that lodge themselves far into that place inside you where the head meets the heart.

“While the Seattle music community continually cultivates new talent, few young Northwest bands have experienced as steep and rapid a trajectory of success as The Head and the Heart” - NPR

Features:

• • Debut Album
• • Gatefold Jacket
• • Toured with Iron & Wine, The Walkmen, & Dr. Dog
• • Hit Singles "Down In The Valley" & "Lost In My Mind"
• • Limited Time Full Album Download Code Included

Reviews

"Heavenly." (Rolling Stone, 05 / 2011)

"There are flashes of pleading tones and sadness in the lyrics, but they are always intercepted by a glimmer of hope, so that you don't fall into bottomless melancholy. At the end of the record, a pleasantly relaxed bliss remains. Beautiful." (musikexpress, 05 / 2011)

"The way the sextet from Seattle elegantly transforms folk melodies into instantly ingratiating pop songs is more than once reminiscent of Paul McCartney paul McCartney (the one from the "White Album"). The band also presents typical Americana songs in Beatlesque arrangements from time to time. The singers have cultivated the art of polyphonic vocal harmonies to astonishing perfection in a short space of time." (Stereo, July 2011)