Indie folk band The Head and the Heart are releasing their sixth album, Aperture, on Friday, May 9, and starting their North American tour on May 30. Vocalist and guitarist John Russell and pianist Kenny Hensley spoke to Jill Riley of The Current’s Morning Show about the process of recording the new album and their upcoming tour.

Use the audio player above to listen to the interview, and find a full transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current, I'm Jill Riley. The Head and the Heart have been together 15-plus years, forming in Seattle in 2009. Their self-titled debut was released on Sub Pop in 2011, followed by Let's Be Still a couple years later. Three records followed on a major label. Number six is on the way, the new album is called Aperture, it is due out May 9, and I've got a couple members of The Head and the Heart on The Current with us this morning. John Russell and Kenny Hensley joining us from The Head and The Heart.

John Russell and Kenny Kensley: Hello.

Jill Riley: Well, congratulations on the new album. I would like to just start by having you guys talk about the record, because I understand that part of the story really is your decision to self-produce the new album, and this is something you did with your debut. So I wonder if you could start with that time period leading up to actually recording the record. What led to that decision? How did you land there?

John Russell: Yeah, we sort of collectively were feeling like we had thrown a lot of stuff at the wall over the last few records, a lot of layers, a lot of experimentation, which was fun. I think also simultaneously having to sort of work a specific way through the pandemic really made us yearn for being a band in a room. And, you know, we're a six-piece band that has been together for, as you said, over 15 years. And so we've developed this sort of muscle that allows us to build something really natural and cohesive in a room. And so we wanted to take advantage of that. And we had the time, you know, coming out of the Warner deal, and we were like: “god, we really miss just making decisions ourselves.” So it felt like a good time to implement that again.

Jill Riley: Did you find yourselves working together in a new way? I mean, John, as you mentioned, the band has been together so long that there is kind of this trained muscle, but Kenny, I wonder if you could comment on that. I mean, if there was any really new inspiration, or experimenting with different things, even though you have this cohesive unit.

Kenny Hensley: Um, not really. I feel like what we did really well this time around was we just went back and really focused on what we knew we were good at, rather than trying to do new things every time, you know? We had done quite a bit of experimentation and tried to kind of push our sound a bit and develop as artists in that sense, which is necessary and something that was really educational to go through and to do. But yeah, this time, it felt like we just kind of went back to our roots in the sense of not worrying too much about production choices and just writing in smaller groups and bringing those songs to the bigger group of six, and taking it as is. And like John said,  we were out of a record deal. We were kind of free agents for the first time in years. And so we found ourselves for the first time ever, really, [when] we didn't have a timeline or deadlines. We didn't have people telling us when we had to finish certain songs or the record or what it should sound like. And I think we really just developed that into what you'll what you'll hear when you listen to it.

Jill Riley: I'm talking with John Russell and Kenny Hensley of The Head and The Heart, the sixth studio album is on the way soon. So many records coming out in spring. I always look forward to springtime. So out May 9, the record is called Aperture. I wonder if you could talk about how you landed on the album title?

John Russell: Matty [Matt Gervais], could speak to this a little more. Another major songwriter in the band has a song titled "Aperture," and just the general scope of everything was sort of lending itself to this, like making adjustments to let more light in and making that a choice.

Kenny Hensley: Yeah, it's exactly that. I mean, Matty had this song titled “Aperture”, and I think throughout the creation of the record, it just became a theme we were hearing and feeling and talking about a lot, letting the light in, moving past, maybe a darker period for some of us individually and in general, just kind of allowing things to be as is and to work as we do in a group, and to allow mistakes and allow reality and human error and relationship. Letting the world in, letting the light in, became a major theme in the creation of this. And so, it wasn't easy to come to an album title. We had a lot of back and forth, and a lot of working titles, but that's what we actually settled on.

Jill Riley: I'm talking with John Russell and Kenny Hensley of The Head and the Heart, talking about the title of the new album, the sixth studio album due out May 9, Aperture. We've been playing a couple songs from the record. I guess "Arrow" was the first taste that we got of the new record. Could you speak specifically to the writing of that song, to the inspiration of that song?

John Russell: A big chunk of that song, I had been carrying that around for a handful of years. It's like a little pump-up song for me, at least it was. It felt like a bit of armor you put on. And when we were recording that song, it was sort of the impetus of really wanting to not rely on production. And how full can we make it just based on our own arrangements, without overdubbing a bunch of different tracks? And really just translate a band in a room to a band on stage, like we did on our first record. And it kind of set the tone for things to follow.

Jill Riley: Talking about the song "Arrow" from the forthcoming record Aperture, probably a song that, if you're listening right now, you have heard us playing in rotation here at The Current from The Head and the Heart. We recently added another one, "After the Setting Sun." I wonder if you could speak to that song a little bit.

Kenny Hensley: "After the Setting Sun" was one that another member, Matty, wrote lyrics to, but he and I kind of started that when we were up in Seattle in early 2024; the band was there for a New Year's Day show, and I decided to stick around for a few days to do some writing with Matty and Charity [Rose Thielen] while in town. That's something we've done over the years, small-group writing sessions, and then bring any ideas that are worth bringing to the bigger group, and that can come into any form of two or three of us, really. It's worked out really successfully in the past. So I tried a few days there, and on the second day, Matty and I were messing around with this idea, these chords he had, this really pretty finger-picked guitar thing, and I learned the chords on piano. And we just bounced ideas back and forth off each other for an hour or two. It happened really quickly. After a couple hours, we had the general structure of the song, but not really any lyrics, there's some melodies there, but nothing totally complete. And over the next few weeks, he just went and added a ton of words and melodies and kind of made a demo out of it, and then we brought that to the rest of the band and finished it up in the studio.

Jill Riley: That's nice. It's nice when it goes like that, doesn't it?

Kenny Hensley: Yeah, it really is. 

Jill Riley: "After the Setting Sun," the name of the song that Kenny was just talking about. The Head and the Heart, John and Kenny from The Head and the Heart on The Current's Morning Show. Hey, tour is coming up. You guys looking forward to getting back on the road, to touring? Because you're kicking it off in Detroit, and you will be coming to the Twin Cities.

John Russell: Yeah, I can't wait. It's been a healthy reprieve, which was well needed. But you know, as we've been talking, I just feel like there's this new spirit, this unification and new songs that everybody is in love with in the band. And yeah, we love the Twin Cities, Charity especially, who grew up in Minnesota. I think she maybe had a hand in selecting where we're playing, which is awesome. So definitely looking forward to getting back on the road and seeing everybody in the Twin Cities.

Jill Riley: Yeah, so it'll be at the Palace Theatre. I'm so glad that you guys are playing there. It really is a great space, the size of it, the way that that theater has been transformed into the state that it's in now. So June 19, Palace Theatre with Future Birds. I was very pleased to see another Minnesotan on there, Anna Graves, who will be doing some shows with you. So playing at the Palace Theatre, again, that's June 19. The Head and the Heart, their sixth studio album is on the way, it's due out May 9, it's called Aperture. And congratulations on the new record. It sounds like you guys are just really thrilled with this and that things are really falling into place here.

John Russell: Thank you so much. Really appreciate that.

Jill Riley: John Russell, Kenny Hensley, representing The Head and the Heart today on The Current's Morning Show. We look forward to seeing you on tour, and thanks so much for checking in with The Current.

Kenny Hensley: Thank you for having us.

Music and tour dates at https://theheadandtheheart.com/