Heaven by The Walkmen

For The Walkmen, heaven is a place where the momentous has become mundane, and vice versa. 

This disc proves that their ascension to lofty heights is complete and something heavenly indeed.

It presents as their most accessible and open-hearted record to date, teeming with melodicism and a more concise framework in comparison with the jagged rocks and sharpened stakes of their previous creations.

Its significance stems from the band’s growth and evolution, primarily reflected in the lyrics.

Heaven feels infectiously drunk on its own good fortune and kicks out a barstool for you to drink alongside it.

Flawed individuals making nearly flawless music is a hallmark of rock, so it’s no surprise that this is The Walkmen’s first rock and roll record.

Thoroughly enjoyable from front to back, Heaven oozes confidence and polish.

It is not their finest hour, since its 47 minutes end up feeling longer than either You & Me or Lisbon, but it may be their most compelling. 

It's difficult not to feel that something essential and elemental to The Walkmen's aesthetic is missing from most of Heaven

Ultimately, it's the sound of both courage and comfort .. lacing together everything that has defined them over an underappreciated, twelve-year spell.

Heaven may be one of the Walkmen’s more detached efforts thus far.