By Brett Milano

When Seattle indie folk band the Head and the Heart called their new album “Aperture,” it didn’t mean they’d suddenly become camera buffs. It mean they’d been thinking as usual about the deeper meanings of what they do.

“The aperture of a camera determines the amount of light that is let into an image,” explains singer/guitarist Matt Gervais. “That doesn’t mean you’re going from dark to light; it’s about choosing which information to expose. So for us it’s metaphorically about exposing your demons, seeing the whole picture and accepting that, Recognizing who we are as a band of six people, and letting enough light into the picture frame for a realistic view. And it can’t go unsaid that this album was the first time there wasn’t some kind of derailment during the recording process.”

“The band has always been an autobiographical vehicle,” adds drummer Tyler Williams. “We evaluate our relationships and what we’ve been through in songs. And we hope that lines up with some universal feelings.”

Adds Gervais, “We’re so connected that we’re like a family. And if you can’t find inspiration from that, you are in trouble.”

Gervais was involved in one of those derailments three albums ago when he, as a longtime fan and associate of the band, was drafted in to replace co-frontman Josiah Johnson, who was having substance issues. Not many people ever get asked to front their favorite band, especially if they’re married to one of its members (violinist Charity Rose Thielen is his wife).

“I don’t think I realized how much of a hurricane I was stepping into at the time,” he says. “It was a challenge to step into the shoes of someone who was a formative member of the band, and an integral member in the eyes of the audience. I had the big advantage of being a fan to begin with; I felt like before joining I’d seen them perform live more than anybody else. I’d hop around a lot, just observing how they played and how they engaged with the crowd. So I’m the only one who ever got to be an audience member, a fan and a band member. And I try to bring that to the stage, knowing the community and how important the songs are to them.”

After experimenting with bigger pop production, “Aperture:” returns the band to the indie-label world and to its acoustic roots.

“We enjoyed doing those pop records, following the creative impulses we had,” says Williams. “Working with producers and trying on new sounds was exciting. But it started to feel like we were trying on clothes, and it felt less natural. Especially during the pandemic, priorities started to shift. A lot of us had seen loss, and we’d had families. That changes your idea of where you want to go.”

When they hit town Thursday at the MGM Music Hall, they promise to hit both the acoustic and the pop material.

“It’s exciting for us to figure out how six albums of material can work together in the same place,” says Gervais. “We adjust the arrangements of songs to meet the moment, but we’ll try to keep them as folk-punk as we can.”