Bio

Her Head’s on Fire announce their new record Am I Not Your Girl via Iodine Recordings, the latest from a band that’s excelled at weaving past and present to deliver rock music that hits a sweet spot of post-hardcore grit and genuine songcraft. Am I Not Your Girl is an exercise in simplicity born from years of consistency, prioritizing true-blue songwriting that draws on a lifetime of influences, from Revolution Summer sincerity to the conciseness modeled by the Replacements: big choruses, big moments, big emotions.

Despite its members having played in a murderer’s row of beloved, important bands in the worlds of post-hardcore and emo (Garrison, Saves the Day, The Bomb, and more), the four- piece have locked in on what the band really is across two previous records, College Rock and Clove Cigarettes and Strange Desires. Her Head’s on Fire isn’t trying to coast off those acts but rather push their work forward.

Mixed by Jack Shirley, the album excels at making the listener feel like they’re in the room with the band as it happens, with production focused on capturing the music live rather than creating anything artificial. Lead single “We’re Not Running” is exemplary of what to expect, confidently chaining together hooky riffs with genuine heft and grit courtesy of guitarist Jeffrey Dean while singer Syd Jagger oscillates between quieter moments and cathartic sing-alongs.

Nowhere is the band’s philosophy better illustrated than in Am I Not Your Girl’s cover art. Painted by Joy Johnson and inspired by the photography of Nan Goldin, it’s a collage of illusory moments all occurring within the same space, one emotion bleeding into the next. In the same way that different feelings melt into one another, the record’s emotive highs do the same, each beat of exuberance, pain, and sadness flowing into the one that follows. “Maybe this record’s on in the background while people have a beautiful conversation, fall in love, or navigate a brutal moment,” Jagger says. “I am honored to be any part of that soundtrack.”

At the core of the band’s mission is community: playing shows and inviting the world in. Having shared stages with the likes of Quicksand, Hey Mercedes, and The Suicide Machines, there’s a sense of connection that threads through both the music itself and their consistent activity as a touring act. “This thing attracted us because we were outliers, and we needed to feel less alone in the world,” Jagger says. “We can’t let the ugly trappings of the world creep in and take a hold of this thing. This community, this love is what it is all about.”