Over the past couple years, iTunes Sessions have become one of the more consistently strong release series to hit the music world, with notable live mini-albums coming from Vampire Weekend, Deerhunter, The Hold Steady, The Decemberists, P.J. Harvey, and many more. But, what all of these artists have in common is at least a couple of notable releases to draw upon, and then pepper with a new song, cover, or alternate arrangement here and there. iTunes Sessions are a common place to see the first official release for a live favorite or well-tested cover tune. Sure, the chief market for the releases are for completist fans, but, in general, iTunes Sessions have enough meat for critics to also engage, and, perhaps, even win over some new devotees.
What makes The Head And The Heart’s session different from many of this series is that the band is relatively green. Their self-titled debut only saw a proper label release this spring, though the album has been available at shows for much longer than that. Still, the band has found success this year by sheer will: playing countless shows across the states, impressing at major music festivals for their ability to engage fans who may be less than familiar with their work, some major blog love, and earning a high profile fan in Death Cab For Cutie. This iTunes Session caps off a homerun year for The Head And The Heart, featuring two previously unreleased tunes that have become staples of their live shows, two complete rearrangements, and enough slight variations to make the release feel necessary. The result is a subtle and lovely live album that highlights why this band is currently riding such a wave of success.
Both new songs on the collection, “When I Fall Asleep” and “Ever Since,” find decent success on record, revealing themselves to be more than set filler for a band that just doesn’t have a whole lot of songs. “Ever Since” is a rare occasion that The Head And The Heart keep their feet on the brake, and for good reason. Not every song needs to be turned into a gospel singalong, with Jonathan Russel’s nearly solo tune, we see that the band doesn’t need all the foot-stomping and flashy interaction to be affecting. The other new track, “When I Fall Asleep,” irked me the first couple times I heard it live with its third person narrative and lack of lyrical believability in its first half, but to focus on this aspect would be to deny what the song accomplishes when it opens up after two minutes. When the folk-meets-Baptist revival section kicks in, all three vocalists (Josiah Johnson, Russell, and Charity Rose Thielen) are able to balance distinguishing themselves while sticking in their harmonic formation. And this could be said of all of the band’s music: it always feels comfortable, and the audience’s sense that returning time and time again to recapture a feeling at their live performances that I can best describe as the feeling of coming home.
And while the shift of “Lost In My Mind” is minor, moving from a hand-clapping bounce of a rhythm to a more gentle shuffle, and tracks “Ghosts” and “Couer d’Alene” add little but the affirmation of the band’s ability to execute, the remaining older tunes all show live shifts toward a more mature and carefully considered sound. “Cats & Dogs” is completely gutted, leaving the melodic skeleton of the tune and the band’s vocal sparring. It is a revelation and gives new lift to their typical set opener. “Rivers & Roads” captures the exclamation point that is their live set, allowing Thielen to stretch her voice to its limit and the song’s thunderous finale. The original recorded version simply does not capture the power that “Rivers & Roads” takes on when performed live, and this version here is a gift to both fans and non-fans alike. Lastly, “Down In The Valley” has the distinction of being a perfect song by any standards, and the rendition presented here takes a more relaxed approach, with the song putting its arm around you shoulder rather than slapping you in the face.
So, while it might seem a bit premature for The Head And The Heart to get the iTunes Session treatment, the Seattle, Washington band fills up the space like pros, standing confident and exuberant, much like they have in every other challenge that their brief career has brought them. And while what the future holds for the band remains unclear, at least they can look at 2011 as a year that they did everything right.
