The Head and the Heart just dropped their fourth studio album, Living Marriage, which was released on May 17th, 2019. Chris Zasche, the bassist for the band, describes this album as a, “rebirth that is the result of growing pains from their last release Signs of Light.”  

The album kicks off to a strong start with, “See You Through My Eyes.” It begins with a trail of vocals leading into a full-out harmonization, sounding something like a lullaby. After the first verse, a heavy beat picks up the rhythm and the song evolves from a lullaby to a campfire tune. This song tells the story of a common struggle: Insecurity. Sometimes it’s hard for someone to see their own beauty even when those around them notice it. The group convey this perfectly through the lyric, “until you learn to love yourself the door is locked to someone else.”  

“Honey Bee,” the fourth song on the track-listing begins with a contemporary piano ballad that paves the way for upcoming soul-soothing vocals. The song is an on-going hand-off between vocalist Charity Rose-Thielen and the piano. “Honeybee” reflects on the idea of living the end of your life with some regret. Whether this be not traveling enough or even taking those you love most for granted. They end the song with the engraving verse, “I took your love and I bent all the rules; you took the blow and didn’t let it show, stuck around to let me know, and Built a family of our own.”  

The positive introspective vibe that the group is most known for radiates through the entire album up until the last song, “The Glory of Music.” The campfire theme is entirely lost once this love song begins. Vocalist Jonathan Russell’s voice powers over the timid strumming of an acoustic guitar and this is where the song drifts into a folky ballad. The Head and the Heart excel at creating their own sound, but this track sounds like it was heavily influenced by The Lumineers. This isn’t a bad thing though, in fact, I think this is an excellent way of concluding their fourth album. The final lyrics, “But I can’t stand around while they’re putting us down, you know everyone deserves a fair fight, and it’s coming around, it’s coming around” are impacting and promising.  

I think Chris Zasche said it best when he referred to the album as a “rebirth.” Yes, the group’s instrumentation heavily mimics their previous albums, but the lyrics have more meaning in this album. Every song has a message here, and I think that really is the Glory of Music. The Head and the Heart’s story-telling skills have improved drastically, and Living Marriage is living proof of that.