Heavenly - Highway to Heavenly (2026)
Artist: Heavenly
Author: Sarah
Date: 03/01/2026
Listen: Apple Music | Bandcamp | Spotify
Heavenly has never been an apolitical band, but on the first half of Highway to Heavenly they become, for the first time, a topical band, with mixed results. While previous albums took a bit of a "the personal is political" stance with regards to issues such as domestic abuse ("It's You") and sexual assault (Atta Girl), here we get songs that are directly about 2020s-specific issues like Elon Musk ("Press Return"), protest movements ("Deflicted"), and (at least the way I read it) living while transgender ("Portland Town"). It seems to me that the quality of these songs tends to vary based on how character-driven they are; "Press Return" is the most dispassionate song on the album and one of the weaker ones to me, whereas "Portland Town"'s attempt to get into the mind of a trans woman results in a chorus that stands up among their best work.
On the second half of the album, it's a bit more of a return to their original lyrical style, though with maybe a bit more optimism (while "It's You" is from the standpoint of a woman who has accepted domestic abuse as normal, "A Different Beat" instead presents a woman who breaks free from her abuser). Musically, however, the album's a bit of a departure from Heavenly as we've become accustomed to them.
To me, the big reference point for Highway to Heavenly isn't anything the band has released before under that name, but instead a more stripped-down version of Marine Research. Just compare the start of "Scene Stealing" to "Parallel Horizontal", or "Excuse Me" to "Lost and Found" and you'll see exactly what I mean. Cathy's keyboard is more central to these songs, for example, with Peter's guitar de-emphasized. As someone who's always found Sounds from the Gulf Stream to be an underrated album, I welcome a return to it, though someone whose main familiarity is with Atta Girl is likely to be disappointed.
Overall, Highway to Heavenly doesn't really compare to the band's best work; the choruses just aren't quite there and, in stripping down their sound, there's just an indescribable something that's lost. On the other hand, for a reunion album 30 years later, and it's clear that the band are back because they have something new to say, rather than just to relive their glory years, and the album is quite self-assured with regards to that. It feels weird to think about a legendary band like they're a promising upstart, but honestly that's about where this album falls for me? It's not a great album, but there's flashes of brilliance in there that I think Heavenly can keep growing into. In any case, I'm glad they're back.