The Head and The Heart Know Quality Songcraft

Foot stomping grandiose edges perfect for the revival tent at your local church. Possibly ideal backdrop for one of those time-lapse photography looks at the past 24 hours of your local weather. Either scenario would do to sum up "All We Ever Knew", the new slice of brilliance from indie folk sensations The Head and the Heart, the band here to remind us that the mecca for Starbucks isn't merely the birthplace and eventual burial ground for grunge. The Head and the Heart stirs its stew pot convincingly to bring multi-tiered taste tantalizing satisfaction to the table. No mere vocal and guitar package for you lucky dogs. Consider yourself super lucky to hear Charity Rose Thielen doing her violin thing. She's worth the price of admission on this track and then some. For me it epitomizes the exhale aspects of a deep breathing session. The violin shall perform a deep tissue massage over your worn down lungs. Josiah Johnson has the voice of a dyed in the wool angel. He's happy, he knows it, and damned if he's not eager to clap his hands too. Summer in Texas can be a brutal misadventure as seasoned veterans can convince you in mere seconds. If you take a sip of the chorus which, obviously starts off with the shout out loud enthusiasm of the title track, then follows up with heaping helpings of "La la la la",at least for the running time of the song you'll forget you live in a steam pit ten months out of the year with a brief reprieve somewhere around April and then possibly Halloween. "All We Ever Knew" possesses much in the way of sunny harmonizing, dry heat sunny day harmonizing. Kenny Hensley's ably-timed piano contributions give some soft elegance to this effort, the kind best appreciated by a guy affectionately imitating the passage in an art gallery. Chris Zasche doesn't need to add much extra inner beauty to the song. He's quite happy to slip his talents underneath the radar. What a joy it is, though. Gives everyone else the needed lift so that their lights can shine at full wattage. "All We Ever Knew" counts as a mutual admiration group effort. Each player colors between the lines. Thus, the finished product's implied depth of opulence springboards off the lyric sheet. Speaking of which why don't we peruse what makes this pen mightier than the sword. True dream analysis factors in as part of the opening verse. Josiah concludes, "When I wake up in the morning I see nothing for miles and miles and miles. When I sleep in the evening, oh lord there she goes, only in dreams. She's only in dreams. Well, well my love we've been here before. Don't drag me through here again. We tried everything under the sun. Freud would have had a field day mining this gold. Not that there's much salubrious behind the message. Two hearts caught up in a dream that now need to wake up, reassess and get on with life. "All We Ever Knew" never scolds at all. On the table is what amounts to facing crucial facts, facts spread out over a blanket of sound fusions you don't digest on a regular basis from bands not named Mumford and Sons. Keeping the song in a predominantly C chord range makes the lightness of spirit easy to draw upon. You're not getting rocket science...merely young love accepting the turning point it has reached. Put all Nirvana-themed prejudices on hold for a spell. The Head and the Heart have arrived to remind you it's not always gray in the great Northwest. "All We Ever Knew" sends soothing rays straight for your hip pocket and buttons them up for safekeeping. Elegance in indie folk isn't dead, I can assure you.