Released:
Rating:
There’s something special about INHEAVEN.
Label: PIAS
Released: 1st September 2017
Rating: ★★★★★
If you’re a regular reader of Dork – and why wouldn’t you be – you’ll already be well aware of our love of INHEAVEN. For us, they’ve long represented something special; that pack of amazing new bands who arrived kicking and screaming into a post-1975, post-Wolf Alice breakthrough scene, planted a flag and claimed it for their own. With their self-titled debut, they’ve put down the first payment on a legacy to last.
Like their peers, they’re a band who understand what it takes. Able to grab attention, demand excitement and set light to the imagination, INHEAVEN either can’t or won’t stand still. Over the last couple of years, they’ve evolved perfectly, their dark heart beating louder by the release. From the swooning summer swirl of ‘Drift’ to the frantic intoxication of ‘Vultures’, they’ve long since proved themselves as worthy heirs to the throne.
But each of those calling cards have existed in the moment – independent of context or a wider body of work. Perfect singles, sure, but when brought together that doesn’t always result in the best album. Apart from with INHEAVEN, it does.
The bangers are all here – from the already iconic ‘Baby’s Alright’ through the brooding stare of ‘Treats’ and the incendiary burn of ‘World On Fire’, when combined they’re the sound of a band already half way through their greatest hits.
Fearsome live, every tensed fiber of their on stage presence bursts through in recorded form. Nothing is left on the table, every bead of sweat invested. Their peers may be smashing it with blinding debut albums right, left and centre, but there’s something special about INHEAVEN. With them leading the way, the new wave of British indie may actually stand a chance. Stephen Ackroyd
