NonCOMM Recap: Jetlagged and all, The Head And The Heart dazzle

The Head and The Heart | photo by Jeremy Zimmerman for WXPN | jeremy-zim.com

As The Head And The Heart took the stage at NonCOMM, you could sense a bit of exhaustion on their faces. Vocalist Jonathan Russell admitted it too, as he greeted the crowd by saying “Good morning.” The band got off a plane from Stockholm, Sweden hours ago, and it was not 9:25 p.m. according to their bodies.

But weariness didn’t seem to factor into the Seattle band’s set — they absolutely killed it. For most of the crowd, it was the first listen to three new songs off their upcoming album Signs Of Light, due out on September 9th. If those three new ones are any indication as to what the full record will be like, we all are in for a treat. Russell told the crowd they worked on the songs in Virginia, where he’s from; El Paso, Texas; a small town north of San Francisco; and then moved on to Nashville to record. All that relocation was recognized in the range of sounds that came from the new songs.

These newbies are great, but they aren’t what got the indie folk rockers to the stage tonight. The band brought out old favorites from their self-titled debut including “Lost In My Mind’ and “Down In The Valley,” as well as “Shake” and “Another Story” from 2013’s Let’s Be Still. All the old songs sounded as good as always, even with one key element missing — guitarist Josiah Johnson is on hiatus while focusing on recovery from addiction. He was missed, as Russell admitted, but he’s doing the right thing by taking care of himself.

They closed out with “Rivers and Roads,” a song that talks about a sense of longing as time brings people apart. And in the moment, that feeling was so relevant. I will miss The Head And The Heart until I see them again.

Setlist
Shake
City Of Angels
All We ever Knew
Another Story
Lost
Rhythm & Blues
Down in the Valley
Rivers & Roads