Kentuckyseven

Label: Bella Union / SubPop

Releasedate: 2011-05-02

Having almost created a genre of their own with the first album, this Seattle-based folk band follows up with greatness. A sophomore album with dignity. I am stunned, just like in 2008.

Mr Pecknold know his way around folk, having created the feeling of the sixties-sound cloaked in a modern wardrobe. The vocals and instruments makes you wait for the next album already. The lyrics are like stories, and wanders from barefoot to heavy workboots. Know this, this album is bound for many late night sessions in the summer to come.

In interviews, Pecknold refers to his feelings for this album, wanting to create something in the vicinity of Van Morrisson’s Astral Weeks. Beeing inspired by Roy Harpers album Stormcock. I say this is nothing less than epic stuff.

Like many follow-ups, the anticipation is great, and having followed Fleet Foxes during the process, on Twitter, I have been more than inpatient. I have to say, the wait was not at all in vain, it exceeded my expactations. Way beyond, that is.

Fleet Foxes will be playing Way Out West this summer, I will be there, believe me, I will be there.

Close to perfection, again. This album is a clear six. A Kentuckyseven-Classic already.

Release: 2011-04-18
Label: Heavenly Recordings / SubPop

Feels Like Hallelujah For The First Time…

Nothing better describes the feeling that crept upon me, when I first heard the sound of this Seattle-band. Something religious. Hallelujah.

The first thing that hits you, listening to this debut-album is that it can’t be a debut. Every song is carved in to your rainy, cold smothered heart, and just brushes everything off. Right there, on the first note. The first chorus.

When I saw the band, at Pustervik, I said to myself, and everyone I could get a hold of -This is something big. I was preaching for the choir. Everyone in that place already knew. I spoke to the band after the gig, and they were not that convinced. Yet. Humble people, that just love what they are doing. And how they do it.

All songs are like riddles, they start out in one way, and end up on another note, still sticking together like small short movies. One of the strongest song on the album, Down in The Valley, is writing references to ancient American songwriters as Dylan and other heroes. The piano, the strings and the ”Lord”. You have to be someone special to get away with. The Head & The Heart is something special. Very special.

I find myself, tapping my knees with my hands, stomping my feet, nodding my head completely open in buses, trains and all over the place. Completely unembarrassed. Like I could never see myself do before. This record is creating some kind of havoc in the controlled ordinary life that is mine.

The way this band present themselves on this album, is in no way ordinary, they have proved that this is something that will stay around for a long long time.

The song Rivers and Roads is a fine example of how to use all the knowledge and skills in the group. Charity is extraordinary in the way she finishes the dramatic end of the song. And experienced live, I know for a fact, that it can only be more exploding when standing close.

Magic is the proper word for describing it.

This is in every way thinkable a Kentucky Seven.

Photo: Dylan Priest (www.dylanpriest.com)

Sometimes when you see or hear a band for the first time, you just know.

At the extraordinary mini-folk-festival put together by Woody West, I met The Head and The Heart for the first time. And I was floored. The sound, the harmonies and the people on stage, just had me at he…

They were praised at SXSW and no wonder, their music is something else. The American roots are built in, to the very last particle of the sound. The vocals and of Jon, Charity and Josiah together with the rest of the band just exploding off stage, in that powerful feeling of love for what they do. It is breathtaking. In any way possible. It is ”up above” in a way not even the songs can explain.

I know, it sounds like some being in love for the first time, but I am in love. This is something special. Something very rare. I had the pleasure of talking to both Jon and Charity that night, and the feeling just kept going. These are persons that just make great stuff, for the love of it.

The Head and The Heart will release their debut album on Heavenly Records in Europe (Subpop US) and for those of you who haven’t met them yet, I suggest you pick that album up. On April 18. Currently touring with The Low Anthem, if they are heading your way, make sure to hold a ticket.

If you wanna fall head over heels, just like I did, just get on that first date, by listening to the song below. And hopefully, you will hit it off.

HVN 213 The Head and the Heart – Lost In My Mind by heavenlyrecordings

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