Heavenly – Le Jardin De Heavenly

Skep Wax Records

£23.38

Format: LP
Catalogue No.: SKEPWAX012LP
Barcode: 5055869549639
Release Date: 12 May 2023
Genre: Indie/Alternative

‘Le Jardin De Heavenly’ Gets Re-Issued On Vinyl. Skep Wax Records are re-issuing all four Heavenly albums over a two year period, and ‘Le Jardin De Heavenly’ is the second. To celebrate, the band are re-uniting to play two sold-out dates at Bush Hall in London this year. The interest and appetite for Heavenly’s music feels as strong, if not stronger than it did back in the early 1990s, with hundreds of thousands of new fans accessing the band’s music through Tiktok and the streaming platforms. Each re-issue album includes relevant single releases, a 7” booklet with lyrics, and new sleeve notes by the members of the band. Altogether, the four albums will amount to a thorough collection of the band’s recorded output. LE JARDIN DE HEAVENLY - the second album. By the time their second album was ready to roll Heavenly were an established part of the Sarah Records stable in the UK and honorary members of the International Pop Underground in the USA, where Le Jardin De Heavenly was released by K Records. The songs on the album are rich with pop melodies and complex harmonies but the band aren’t holding back – Mathew’s drumming is intense; Peter’s guitar flourishes are sharp-edged and loud. There are still elements of the gentler twee sound that had become the band’s hallmark (or curse): Different Day and So Little Deserve are winsome, delicate pop songs. But there are also swirls of early shoegaze – Starshy is a dreamy, atmospheric confection heavy with reverb and harmony. And there’s a defiant attitude in there too: I’m Not Scared Of You is the sound of a young woman refusing to be cowed by a male bully. It’s not hard to see how Heavenly ended up as part of the riot grrrl scene in the US (an encounter that would have a profound influence on the band’s later output). At the heart of the album, ‘C Is The Heavenly Option’ feels like a perfect celebration of Heavenly’s transatlantic existence, and the marriage of two indie traditions: Amelia’s English pop voice duets with Calvin Johnson’s gravelly American baritone while the band alternate between cute melody and all-out thrash. It’s a joyous combination. The eight-track album was released by Sarah Records and by K Records. The Skep Wax re-issue of ‘Le Jardin De Heavenly’ includes Heavenly’s third Sarah Records single – So Little Deserve/I’m Not Scared Of You’ and the first K Records single - ‘She Says/Escort Crash On Marston Street’. The vinyl re-issue of Heavenly’s third album ‘The Decline And Fall Of Heavenly’ will follow in Autumn 2023. ‘Operation Heavenly’ will arrive in 2024.

Tracklist: SIDE A: 1 Starshy 2 Tool 3 Orange Corduroy Dress 4 Different Day 5 C Is The Heavenly Option 6 Smile. SIDE B: 1 And The Birds Aren’t Singing 2 Sort of Mine 3 So Little Deserve 4 I’m Not Scared Of You 5 She Says 6 Escort Crash On Marston Street