Heavenly: Highway To Heavenly

In the lead up to the release of their comeback album cult band Heavenly put out three singles that were so good and on point that it was hard to believe that 30 years had passed. Now that the full album is here, it is safe to conclude that their signature blend of twee pop with razorsharp lyrics is all over Highway To Heavenly.

Sounding chipper and upbeat, but also taking a scalpel to everything that bothers them or really pisses them off, shows that they haven't slowed down a bit or have mellowed with age. Excuse Me about a former class mate who sold out is scolded with glee. Press Return is a stab at tech-bros, who force their twisted fantasies down people throats with algorithms from Hell. Their tale about a toxic relationship in Deflicted hits hard, as it should be, because sugarcoating would have plain wrong.

Heavenly: Scene Stealing

Cult indie pop band Heavenly have released another single from their forthcoming album Highway To Heavenly, their first in 30 years. On Scene Stealing they paint the picture of a guy taking advantage of an inebriated girl, the subsequent guilt and realising that this will haunt him forever and leave a permanent scar on his victim. They point a finger by way of an upbeat song that sounds cheerful, but of course it isn't, making it a prime example of damning dichotomy.

Heavenly: Excuse Me

Cult indie pop band Heavenly had a pleasant surprise for their fans last year with the release of a new single, Portland Town, the first taste from a new full length, Highway To Heavenly. If the next single Excuse Me is an indication of that record's content, it can hold its own amongst the four albums that were released in the Nineties. It is an upbeat song about a chance meeting with a former class mate, who wasn't considered cool back then, but made a lasting expression nevertheless.

Highway To Heavenly will be released on February 27 via Skep Wax (whitevinyl, CD, digital). Attendees of the first show of their tour in Coventry are in luck - it is included with the ticket.

Heavenly: tour dates; new album in February 2026

Cult band Heavenly is back for real. After the announcement of the reissue of their four studio albums in September 2022 fans of the jangly indie pop band got their hopes up that the story which ended in 1996 could get a new chapter.

Patience was in order, but lo and behold, in June this year the band released a brand new single Portland Town, shortly after the reformed band had played a bunch of shows in US. It does not end there. In February 2026 a new album will see the light of day, followed by a lengthy tour.

Heavenly: Portland Town

What if a cult band releases something new after 29 years? Will it suck and put a stain on their reputation? Or, fingers crossed, can it be great and a worthy addition to their discography. Jangly indie pop band Heavenly called it quits in 1996, shortly after drummer Mathew Fletcher had taken his own life. Their reputation survived and their albums, on the legendary Sarah Records label, became collectors items.

Fast forward to September 2022 when the announcement was made that all four studio albums would reissued. It put the band in the spotlights again, among the cognoscenti that is, and now there is actually some new music, a lovely single called Portland Town, inspired by the American city in Oregon, that has become shorthand for anything cool and eco-friendly, a safe haven in a country that is becoming more of a mess each day.

Heavenly & Swansea Sound: US West Coast shows

Revived British jangly indie band Heavenly will play their first shows in the US since 29 years in October. They are joined by Swansea Sound (safe for the LA gig). Prepare two sets of off-kilter songs about serious matters wrapped in good-times music.

Heavenly: "C Is The Heavenly Option" video

English jangly indie pop band Heavenly celebrate the reissue on vinyl of their second album Le Jardin de Heavenly with a video for C Is The Heavenly Option.

The band will perform their first shows in 28 years, which will be a very special events indeed. Ian Button (Papernut Cambridge, Swansea Sound) will be drummer. Label mates Panic Pocket are the support act for all of them. £1 from each ticket sale will be donated to Grassroots Suicide Prevention. Both shows are sold out. There is a waiting list, so you might lucky when people can't make it.

Heavenly: "Le Jardin de Heavenly" reissue

photo: Duglas Stewart

All four studio albums by jangly indie pop band Heavenly are being reissued. The band's second album Le Jardin de Heavenly will be available on May 12. The originals are still in high demand among the cognoscenti of superb melodic pop with an edge. Fabled DJ John Peel liked them a lot and they recorded two sessions for his radio show, both of which were released on 7" EPs last year. They disbanded in 1996 after tragedy had struck: drummer Mathew Fletcher took his own life.

Heavenly: reissues of their four studio albums

All four studio albums by jangly indie pop band Heavenly will be reissued on vinyl over the next two years, starting with their debut album Heavenly vs Satan on November 26th. The originals are still in high demand among the cognoscenti of superb melodic pop with an edge. Fabled DJ John Peel liked them a lot and they recorded two sessions for his radio show, both of which were released on 7" EPs this year. They disbanded in 1996 after tragedy had struck: drummer Mathew Fletcher took his own life.

Nowadays singer Amelia Fletcher and bass player Rob Pursey both play in The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound, still on the fence between pop and punk, and Peter Momtchiloff is playing guitar with Would Be Good and Tufthunter.