It's the natural, assured way in which Heaven Is Whenever moves between building on past glories and breaking fresh ground that's so impressive.
Heaven Is Whenever shows a band that just isn’t willing to backslide into their old ways, instead opting to continue forward with a reverence for their past work that reminds us of who the Hold Steady were, all the while giving us a glimpse of who they’re going to be.
With the more stripped back sound and subtler approach, ‘Heaven Is Whenever’ may not be the album from The Hold Steady that people were wanting. But people are frequently wrong and this is a solid record.
Heaven Is Whenever sounds like a transitional album, hopefully paving the way for something stronger, more cohesive, more specific. In the meantime, this remains an uncharacteristically weak effort by a good band that may be in danger of running out of stories.
#36 | / | Uncut |