Lazy Summer Music: Review of The Head and the Heart

The Head & the Heart

During the new wave of folk music during the '80s, it was about R.E.M., Suzanne Vega, Indigo Girls, 10,000 Maniacs, and Innocence Mission.  I was very much on board with it.  There has been a resurgence of folk music in recent years - Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, Bon Iver, and Mumford & Sons.  Seattle's The Head & the Heart is part of that movement.

Signed to the revered Sub Pop Records, "Let's Be Still" is their second release and is a very good way to be introduced to their music, which is soft and languid.  This is a very beautiful album.  They experiment with lavish vocal harmonies of both male and female voices, using a multitude of instruments, the fiddle, piano, harmonica, and string arrangements.  This album is happy like a stroll down a country road with trees bejeweled with blossoms and sweet pollen in the air.

"Homecoming Heroes" starts of this album with a piano so sweet it's like tasting honey right from the comb.  "Another Story" features a banjo and some vocal arrangements right from the '60s.  Would it be too cliche to use the word "Americana" at this point?  My favorites are the "Springtime" and "Summertime" songs that reflect the best parts of those seasons.  There are many simple, acoustic pieces like "Josh McBride", "10,000 Weight in Gold", and "These Days Are Numbered".  One of the best is the title track, "Let's Be Still", which has received some decent airplay.  It is a good example of what this band is capable of spinning, so catchy even my wife clued in while I was listening.

As the summer comes closer, as I spend time on the porch, lazily trying to cool off, I am sure that I will be listening more often to this gem.  It reminds me of older days, of Shellyan Orphan in the '80s, and more recently of The Hush Sound.  But I am sure I will not soon get them out of my head, and they will find a place in my heart.  *cue laughter*