Earlier this year, the founders/originators/inventors of twee (a designation that they themselves have mixed feelings about… preferring “indiepop”), Heavenly, released Highway To Heavenly, their fifth full-length and first in three decades… The album, technically the follow-up to the UK band’s 1996 LP, Operation Heavenly, dropped on February 27th via bassist Rob Pursey and vocalist/guitarist Amelia Fletcher’s own label, Skep Wax (which has a titular album track).
In 2023 Pursey and Fletcher – who are also married, in addition to being musical collaborators across a number of projects, including Swansea Sound, who you may have seen with Jeanines at Johnny Brenda’s in 2024 – came together with Heavenly guitarist Peter Momtchiloff and vocalist/keyboardist Cathy Rogers, along with drummer Ian Button, who’s stepped in to handle the duties of Mathew Fletcher, Amelia’s brother and Heavenly’s original drummer, who took his own life just prior to the release of Operation Heavenly.
Heavenly have been playing live together again ever since, and their dates across the UK, US, and Europe have featured a number of sell-outs. And in addition to longtime, three-decades-aged, fans, they have acquired quite a few devout younger fans who, in recent years, have been indulging in the sorts of indie rock and indiepop that would seem to be at least somewhat indebted to the sonic and social sentiments of the Gen X indie kids that would birth labels like Sarah Records (Heavenly’s original UK label), K Records (Heavenly’s original US label), and Kill Rock Stars.
This February Heavenly kicked off a world tour that — throughout February, March, and earlier this month — has taken them through the UK and Europe, and will have them coming to North America next week, with an April 17th show at Johnny Brenda’s, which has been long sold-out and will feature many of Heavenly’s members doing double-duty when Swansea Sound opens the show. Last month I got a chance to chat with all five members of Heavenly about all of this and more.
Izzy Cihak: You just released your first album in 30 years, although you’ve been playing live again for the past few years. How did this all originate, the idea to start playing again and then, in turn, releasing a new full-length?
Rob Pursey: It started when our friend Ian asked if he could put out a compilation of all the Heavenly singles on his label Damaged Goods. It was much more popular than he or we expected. By then, me and Amelia had started Skep Wax Records, and we thought we should re-issue all the Heavenly LPs, which at that time were only available (for silly money) on Discogs etc. All this activity meant we had to rummage through old pictures, listen to old songs – and generally remind ourselves how much fun it was to be in Heavenly.
Amelia Fletcher: We started very tentatively, thinking it might just be a couple of gigs in London. There was no grand plan, just one step at a time led us to making a new album and doing a 30-date tour!
Izzy: Have there been any particular highlights of Heavenly this second time around, particularly moving or standout moments? I’m assuming so, since you decided to put out new music. You do seem to have a lot of new young fans.
Cathy Rogers: I think those very first two shows we did in London, when we were sort of feeling our way to whether we were going to ‘do Heavenly again’. There was such an incredible atmosphere, this sense of shared history with everyone who was there. Everyone could somehow sense all these lives that had gone on in the last 30 years, all the good and bad things that everyone had been through – it was all somehow there. It was one of the most powerful group-level emotional experiences I’ve ever had.
Ian Button: That rush of emotion Cathy is talking about – I saw it light everyone up at those first two shows… It was all new for me to be part of the group, so I was kind of seeing it even more vividly maybe. It was such love for Heavenly and a welcome for me too.
Izzy: On that note, what kinds of younger people have you noticed coming out to the shows, who seem like they’ve immersed themselves in your work? You did always make sounds and talk about things that seem to be popular amongst a lot of people like me these days (I’m 41, but I feel like I know a lot of people in their twenties who are into stuff like Heavenly, as well.)
Rob: There are a lot of young women, and a lot of queer and non-binary people. Heavenly always resisted the kind of hyper-gendering that a lot of pop and rock bands go in for. My guess is that these younger kids have intuited that Heavenly was on their side. There are also a lot of younger fans who are themselves starting bands. There is an element of ‘here’s a chord, here’s another, here’s a hair grip, now form a band’ about Heavenly.
Cathy: Parents and their kids being at gigs together is the new rock and roll.
Amelia: I love that some of the younger crowd are really immersed in the music. When you ask them their favourite Heavenly song they often choose a really deep cut. Songs we can barely remember ourselves!
Izzy: I realize this may be a little bit controversial, but considering that you’re often regarded as the originators of “twee,” I’m curious how you feel about that, for better or worse?
Rob: We have been asked this a lot recently. We are old enough to remember that it was used as an insult, mainly by men, back in the 1990s. But the word has been on a long journey, and for anyone born after the year 2000 it just means a music genre and a ‘look’. So we try not to moan about it too much and I guess we should be proud that we are seen as originators of a genre.
Izzy: How do you feel like Highway To Heavenly compares to your albums from the ‘90s, in terms of both sounds and making music together? It seems (and sounds) to have picked up right where you left off, but obviously you’ve all had a tremendous amount of experience working in music in the time in-between. How has your approach evolved in that time?
Cathy: I think we want to sound recognisably Heavenly but also new, not nostalgic and somehow-just-different- enough. I think that’s pretty much how this album is.
Amelia: I’m really pleased with how it somehow sounds like the natural next album by Heavenly, even though it took 30 years! Although some of the topics of the songs reflect that long gestation period – “Scene Stealing” is about YouTubers, for instance, and “The Neverseen” is about people who get turned into conspiracy theorists in online rabbit holes. Neither of those were a thing in the 1990s.
Izzy: Do you have a favorite album track at the moment, whether one you’re most proud of, one that’s the most fun to play live, or one that might best signify the current state of the band? I think that “Deflicted” is my favorite, which I know you’ve been playing live for a while, but I’m curious if you have a pick.
Rob: I think my favourite is “A Different Beat”. It is a lot of fun to play live, and the most difficult one to get right as it goes on a long journey (in musical terms). I think the words are great too. It is a hopeful song: it suggests there are routes out of oppressive situations.
Cathy: I’m still switching and swapping around with my favourites. I guess live it is fun to play songs which encourage some front row action – so on that front, what we call our ‘disco songs’ like “Scene Stealing,” “A Different Beat” and “Press Return” all score. I also enjoy being an angry backing vocal singer sometimes.
Ian: “Skep Wax,” “Deflicted,” “That Last Day” are my current faves.
Peter Momtchiloff: I like “Scene Stealing,” also “Deflicted.” They get into a groove and ride it with intertwining melodies.
Amelia: My favourites vary too. “Excuse Me” is probably the most fun to sing live, but I think “Press Return” might be my current favourite.
Izzy: You’re just kicking off a pretty huge tour. Are there any shows or cities you’re especially excited about? Heavenly obviously haven’t played a lot of these places in quite some time.
Cathy: Some of the ones I’m most excited about are places I’ve never been before – like Athens (Greece). I also have such great memories of certain venues like The Black Cat in DC where we saw The Make Up and it felt like being in a film. But of course Philadelphia is top of the list!
Ian: I’m looking forward again to Bob (from Swansea Sound)’s driving playlists, themed and curated for that day’s city we’re visiting.
Peter: I am a Francophile so being in Paris is always good for me. But otherwise, yes, places we haven’t played, or at least that I don’t remember playing (not the same thing).
Amelia: I’ve never been to Canada in my life, so I am especially excited about Toronto and Vancouver. Even though I have no idea whether anyone there really wants to see us play!
Ian: I’ve got friends coming to both of those don’t worry!
Izzy: I was at the last Swansea Sound show at Johnny Brenda’s (and am excited to see you/them again opening), so a number of you have already played the venue, so I’m curious what you thought of it? A lot of touring artists I know say it’s one of their favorites.
Rob: It is a wonderful place. I like any venue where the proprietors have just gone for it in terms of interior décor. After a soundcheck you usually have quite a long period of just hanging around, getting a bit bored. But at Johnny Brenda’s we happily spent our time taking pictures of glassy globes, odd lights and weird balconies. It sounds good in there, too. Very excited to be coming back.
Amelia: We also enjoyed going up the road and discovering ‘Corn Hole’. I think that is what it is called. Basically, you try and throw a bean bag in a hole. It is surprisingly good fun!
Izzy: What can be expected of Heavenly’s live show on the North American dates, in terms of setlist and production? I know a lot of the shows are sold out (including ours), so lots of people seem to be really excited for it.
Cathy: I think you will be impressed by our surprisingly tightly choreographed dance routines which accompany all the new songs.
Ian: The truck containing my pyrotechnic equipment for the drum kit will be arriving the day before the show…..
Peter: The visuals will be pretty breathtaking.
Amelia: Cathy had the idea of us all wearing some pink on stage, to reference the pink on the album cover. She even went thrift shopping to buy us all things. We’ve worn them at all the shows so far, but I have no idea if this idea will last out to the US trip!
Izzy: I’m guessing that in getting back together you were revisiting at least some of (if not a lot of) the band’s old catalogue for the first time in a while. Were there any songs that surprised you, hitting you in a different way than you would have expected?
Rob: I really like “By The Way”. I find it more moving than I did when we played it in the past. To be honest, I don’t know if I found any of the songs very moving when I was 21 because I was mainly an idiot at that time, and only really liked the fast songs.
Cathy: “Me and My Madness” is a good old favourite (that’s actually had some renewed interest too). I really like the words, which Mathew wrote and the arrangement, how it holds back on the chorus then crashes out in the chaos of the double chorus at the end with more words than the dictionary all somehow jammed in. And then gone.
Peter: I was surprised initially that “Me and My Madness” had turned out to be popular, because it has such an untethered and wayward feel, but that is a good thing of course. I wish it was a little bit easier for me to play.
Amelia: I’d almost forgotten the existence of “She And Me” but I really love playing it now. Also, my brother wrote the words to “Atta Girl” and “Me And My Madness”, so playing those makes me think about him – in a good way.
Izzy: Finally, what’s next for Heavenly, after these dates wrap? Are there tentative plans for more touring and maybe even more music, or are you just figuring it out as you go?
Rob: I think the general consensus is that we will get to the end of June and see how we feel. The UK gigs are mostly sold out, so I think the appetite for the band is still strong, and hopefully it will be the same in America. If that is the case, my guess is that we will do more in the future.
Cathy: Yes we just did the Bandcamp listening party for the album and it was really fun and great to hear people’s reaction. When it ended I suddenly felt a bit bereft and sad. I suspect there might be that feeling after this batch of activities. And that usually leads somewhere…
