The Head and the Heart - Every Shade Of Blue [2LP Clear Orange]

The Head and the Heart's Every Shade of Blue spreads sixteen songs across a clear orange double LP, a warm-coloured home for a record steeped in bittersweet reflection.

The Seattle band grew from open mic nights into one of indie folk's best-loved acts on the strength of rich harmonies and heart-on-sleeve songwriting. Released in 2022, this fifth studio album was their first since Living Mirage in 2019, and the title track arrived first as the lead single, setting the emotional temperature for everything that followed.

Across the record the band moves between hushed reflection and big, communal choruses. Every Shade of Blue sits at the heart of it, a song that looks sadness squarely in the eye, while Tiebreaker and Paradigm show off the group's gift for wistful, sing-along melody. Virginia (Wind in the Night) leans toward the folk roots that first won them fans, and the shared vocals, with Charity Rose Thielen's voice weaving through the arrangements, remain the band's secret weapon.

It is polished and full-sounding, yet it never loses the intimacy of a few friends singing around a single microphone.

For longtime listeners and anyone who likes their indie folk with a lump in the throat, it is a generous, quietly cathartic album that rewards repeat plays, and the coloured vinyl suits it.