by Emily Caldwell, staff reporter

I consider myself a fairly impressionable person, which can be both a good thing and a bad thing. But unfortunately, I think I notice the drawbacks of my “condition,” as I have been not-so-affectionately referring to it as, more than I do the benefits, especially when it comes to music. Every time one of my favorite bands or artists drops a new album, I have to lock myself in my closet with the new CD and my old Casio from, like, 2007, and form an opinion of the new stuff myself before I read any reviews, or else they influence the way I listen to either the flop or the masterpiece (if we’re being honest with ourselves, every album can be boiled down to either extreme).

The Head And The Heart, one of my favorite bands, who I credit as one of the most influential bands in the twenty-first century folk-alternative world of music, recently dropped a new album, Signs of Light. I pre-ordered the CD, and, on September 10th (luckily a Saturday, meaning that I could devote my attention and time to my strange, outdated ritual and not have to worry about losing my seat on the homework struggle bus), the CD was delivered, I burrowed into the blankets I have stashed in my hallway closet, pulled out my Casio from its resting place, and clicked the CD into its spot. Before I put in the headphones, I remember faintly hearing my parents having a conversation: “David, she can’t keep doing this- when she gets to college, her roommate is going to request to have her moved with the reason that she locks herself in her closet for hours at a time for unknown reasons.” “Oh Amy, she’ll be fine,” my dad responded. “We’ll make sure the dorms she’s in don’t have closets.”

The first track of the album,”All We Ever Knew”, starts off well. I could tell their songwriting had, besides the foreign-sounding pop-associated la-la-las they occasionally included, remained raw and honest. By the end of the song, I was liking it, although it was not what I was expecting. Although as I continued listening to the album, I noticed that each song was becoming more and more indistinguishable from the last. After the first track, there was no songs that stood out to me, no other songs that would have been enough for me to classify The Head And The Heart’s new album as good as its previous two.

But I need to stop myself before I start pointing out all of the deficiencies I noticed; the album did display some positive signs of growth. For example, the album as a whole sounded more put together than its predecessors, which is a great sign for The Head And The Heart’s future. Despite the pop elements, the band still emphasized their strengths, which include three lead and very talented vocalists, a violinist, excellent guitar players, and a creative drummer. Songs like “Rhythm & Blues”, “Library Magic”, and the album’s title track “Signs of Light” remind listeners that they are still the band who produced the magical wonder that was their first album.

Here’s the problem, however. When I’m not 100% about whether the album is a flop or a masterpiece, my annoyingly consuming indecisiveness is triggered. I say, ‘Well, these songs are good, but not great, so the album overall did not meet the qualifications required to be deemed a masterpiece.’ But then I’m like, ‘No, Emily, you’re being too harsh. The band has grown, and with growth comes change. You’re punishing them for wanting to appeal to a wider audience and expand.’ Such is the case with this album. But, of course, a choice must (eventually) be made.

There are flaws in even the greatest of albums from the greatest of bands. And of course, this album is no exception. But, I have finally decided that this album is indeed a masterpiece. Not their greatest masterpiece, in my opinion, but still a masterpiece nonetheless that The Head And The Heart deserve recognition for. Although, I will say this: it is a different kind of masterpiece. A different class of masterpiece, if you will. If you look at Mumford and Sons’ lucrative career, you will see that their transition from Babel to Wilder Mind was a rocky one, but Wilder Mind was, despite the band employing a completely different style of music, without a doubt still a masterpiece. I see the same thing happening with The Head And The Heart, probably just on a smaller scale. They are experimenting, trying the change things up, trying to see what still works and what doesn’t for them. And, although it will take some getting used to, I’m looking forward to seeing what else the band comes up with in the future.