The Head and the Heart Get Vulnerable Ahead of Their Next Album
Photo by Jasper Graham
The Head and the Heart, formed in 2011 and consisting of members Charity Rose Thielen, Jonathan Russell, Matt Gervais, Chris Zasche, Kenny Hensley, and Tyler Williams, is gearing up for their sixth studio album on May 9th. Aperture is their first self-produced record since their debut album, The Head and the Heart. A return to their DIY roots, The Head and the Heart are ready to lean into a newfound emotional openness, embracing the power of vulnerability as they look toward spring with a sense of hope and rebirth. Gervais describes the album’s title track as “an invitation to wake up in the present moment, recognizing that it is all we have, in all its contradictions of beauty and pain, joy and despair, unfathomable vastness and impermanence.” In a recent press conference, courtesy of °1824, the group led thoughtful conversations touching these themes.
In photography terms, the term aperture is typically used to describe the opening in a camera lens that allows light to pass through. However, for The Head and the Heart, it means much more. “The whole album is an idea of getting back together, widening the perspective of what these six people can accomplish together. It’s sort of a journey between light and dark,” Tyler explained.
Jon followed up on this, detailing, “The more open you are, the more light comes in. That idea generally speaks to where we've been lately—being more vulnerable around one another, opening up more, and trying to be as open as possible.”
As Aperture is the group’s first record since returning from the pandemic, it speaks to the period of individual, emotional, and global darkness that we all experienced for several years, Matt explained. Being able to tour again and engage in conversation with fans at their shows, he admitted, was “an invitation to reinterpret and let light in, and figure out how to get a clear picture of what [our] situations might be in life.”
On the subject of touring, The Head and the Heart were asked what songs they were most excited to play live, and each member had a unique answer. For Tyler, the song “Jubilee” reminds him of his pop-punk roots, which he is thrilled to share with people on tour. Kenny admitted that although he is not a singer, he sings on the track “West Coast,” and the thought of performing it live simultaneously excites him and sends goosebumps down his spine.
Charity shared that the group hasn’t played the title track since they recorded it. “It’s so anthemic and emblematic of this process of making the record, and even how we mixed it. We were mixing up different voices, leads, and vocals, and then the drums came in, followed by the line ‘come alive.’ Lyrically and sonically, I’m so excited to see how that feels performing for the first time,” she explained.
As for Matt, he is especially excited to play the title track. “I can’t wait to see how that comes off and sets the stage for what will hopefully be really big shows that feel like they’re covering a large territory,” he detailed. Jon, on the other hand, didn’t pinpoint one particular song, but shared that the entire body of work feels extremely fresh. “I think that’s gonna translate live—I haven’t been this excited for a new record in a long time, to be honest with you,” he admitted.
Over the last sixteen years, The Head and the Heart’s collaborative process has seen several iterations. Although their current collaborative process is partly a return to form, as Tyler described it, there are many new elements to it that they hadn’t explored before. Many of the songs on Aperture were only played once, during recording. “We’ve never worked in such a spontaneous way before, and I think that’s exciting,” he explained.
“This is the most collaborative album we’ve made, and everyone sharing that ownership is activating and emblematic of how we started as a collective, democratic band,” Charity added.
The track, “Time With My Sins,” describes learning to let your guard down to get to know someone. Matt connected this experience to the idea of band therapy, explaining that their experience with it has given them extensive vocabulary and many tools to work with each other. Band therapy allowed The Head and the Heart to “reignite that shared mission” they have.
Tyler followed this, saying, “The only way you can truly be vulnerable around your friends, or anyone, is when you trust that you’re safe with them. I think that was a learning lesson for all of us.”
One of the most beautiful aspects of music, as Kenny mentioned, is that experiences often translate themselves into healing pieces. “ As an artist in this group, Matty could be going through something, and his therapy, my therapy, or our therapy, is to write music and to translate that into something that is healing for ourselves. It can also then go out into the world and affect the public in any way they translate that,” he explained.
Aperture will be released on May 9th, and these themes of vulnerability and breaking down barriers translate directly throughout the album. Pre-save the album here!
