With their third LP, The Head and the Heart find themselves flirting with an unfortunately familiar narrative: “Beloved indie-folk group sign with mainstream record label, lose their true sound.” Since their last recording, the group has traded its humble beginnings in Seattle for a Warner Bros. Records studio in Nashville.
But there is a second story underlying this album, one a bit more painful. In March, co-founder, songwriter, and frontman Josiah Johnson announced he would be taking a hiatus from the band to focus on his recovery from addiction. While the absence of his harmonizing voice alongside co-frontman Jonathan Russell is noticeable, Johnson’s presence remains, as the band rallies around him within the album’s lyrics.
These two narratives converge into the album of change that is “Signs of Light.” The first three tracks are a crash course proudly displaying the new sound and feel of the band, with everything from electric guitars to voice effects to “la-la-la” choruses. Once the initial excitement dies down, though, what is left is a band audibly venturing into new territory: pop.
On their last album, poppier songs like “Shake” worked well because they were unique within the context of the album. Slow acoustic classics like “Let’s Be Still” followed not far behind and anchored the record. This time around, there is no such anchor. Russell and company have pushed all their chips to the middle, betting on the success of their new pop sound.
Lost on “Signs of Light” is a band who knew how to be quiet, and knew how powerful an acoustic guitar could be with just raw vocals. When asked about this very shift in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, female lead Charity Rose said this was intentional, as the group tried to “fill up the space more.” They were successful in that pursuit, but gone is the intimacy of their past music. Even Charity’s voice, which used to cut like a knife in her solos, now feels suppressed and overproduced.
What is not lost is deft lyricism, most tangible on the songs reaching out to, and sometimes from, Johnson. “I’m just glad to go through it all with you as friends… There will always be better days,” the band harmonizes on “Library Magic.” The real triumph, both emotionally and musically, comes with the encore, “Signs of Light.” Written and sung entirely by Johnson, the album bears the song’s name, as a tribute to the struggling frontman. The track initially sounds like an ode to a lost friend, but perhaps Johnson is really calling to his old self. “You gotta fix yourself up before taking off,” he poignantly intones.
Placing such a reflective song at the end of the album inspires a reassessment of the album as a whole. It’s a reminder the band never lost their raw emotion — finding it just requires looking a little deeper and listening a little harder. Perhaps the route they chose — a big money recording contract — isn’t the riskiest or most exciting, but the group’s decision makes sense. “Signs of Light” brought significant change for the group, yet The Head and the Heart managed, admirably, to stay in their lane. The music carries just as much soul as the ways of old, only now it lends itself to dancing in the sun, not looking out into the rain.
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