The Head and the Heart, a sextuple from Seattle, is one of the rare breeds that keeps creating smooth melodious rock music reaching to the core of souls, which was normal in the late last century but not today. Their new and fifth album “Every Shade of Blue” didn’t betray my expectation…yes, one of my personal anticipated albums this year. Basically following the same direction from their 3rd and turning point album from Sub Pop to Warner Bros in 2016, Signs of Light, the bright, authentic West Coast rock full of joyful and expressive melodies, that reminds me of sunny California, not the cloudy Washington State, are across the album. Melodiously spectacular songs and the massive layer of the beautiful chorus over the breathtaking melodies make listeners positive-minded. “Tiebreaker”, the second song, is a good example. The massive flow of male and female choruses over the superior dramatic melodies expresses the joy of discovering a new optimistic love well. The title track at the opening made me feel like slowly sinking into the big deep blue like the Pacific Ocean then arising upon breaking free from the wrong love direction. The expressional melodies are the strength of The Head and the Heart.
“Every Shade of Blue” doesn’t have deeply soul-reaching dramatic ballads at the end of the album like the previous 2 albums, the title track from Signs of Light and “Glory of Music” from Living Mirage. The last song of the new album, “GTFU” (get the fuck up?) is like returning to the opening song. Instead, the album has beautiful acoustic solitude “Taking My Time (Wrong Woman)” in the last half. The following mid-tempo “Enemy Line” is also a heartbreak song but the orchestrated choruses are dynamically dramatic and refreshing like being released from pain, almost forgetting that is a sad song. The Head and the Heart is good at bringing the heartbreak songs to a whole new level while healing wounded souls.
All of those were made possible by the exceptional expression skill of Jonathan Russell, the vocalist, along with the band’s fantastic songwriting. He is the direct messenger of love. A new love, prime time love, heartbreak…any stage and any occasion of love, soft or strong, his voice is direct reach to the hearts. Jonathan is not exactly a technical or charismatic vocalist, but his soul-touching ability is a strong weapon. Healing like mind therapy.
On the other hand, there are some changes from the previous albums. The major change is that Jonathan’s vocal sync with the female vocalist, Charity Rose Thielen, is way torn down. Only the significant are “Tiebreaker”, and “Don’t Show Your Weakness”. “Shut Up”, “Shadows”, and “GTFU” out of 16 songs. The last two albums featured Charity’s voice more overall, especially Signs of Light. Instead, Jonathan’s voice is more closed up. Although the change isn’t bothering level, the decrease in their trademark makes me wonder why. The quality of each song improved compared with Living Mirage; however, the album’s impact could be stronger by making a minor change in song orders. For example, it would be more impressive by switching the third song “Paradigm” and the fourth “Virginia (Wind In The Night). Upbeat “Virginia” has stronger melodious flows than low key “Paradigm”. The album’s most melodious song is the second “Tiebreaker” that concentrates all the attractions of The Head and the Heart. The album’s impact could be more spectacular by continuing the similar melodious song like “Virginia”. Also, “GTFU” isn’t exactly the last song material because the album has already had other similar songs like “Shut Up” and “Family Man”. I still look for the album’s climax when the album is finished. The endings of the last two albums were more memorable although not necessary to end with the dramatic ballads like the last two.
OVERALL POINTS: 87/100
- Songs: ★★★★
- Originality: ★★★★★
- Thrills: ★★★★
- Song orders: ★★★
- Vocal: ★★★★+3/4
- Background: ★★★★★
- Sound: ★★★★★
- Production: ★★★★
- Strong songs: “Every Shade of Blue”, “Tiebreaker”, “Don’t Show Your Weakness”, “Taking My Time (Wrong Woman)”, “Enemy Line”
EXTRA (NOT COUNTED TOWARD THE OVERALL POINTS)
- Title: B
- Album cover: B
RELEASE DATE (US): 04/29/2022
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