Heaven to a Tortured Mind plays out like a message that in amongst the chaos there’s a calm to soothe you through it, and it’s a calm we all need right now.
On Heaven to a Tortured Mind, Yves Tumor relishes his shift to microphone caressing rock star. Here he steps out of his sonic chrysalis, dons some shiny black wings and soars.
Previously, Tumor has stated that they want to make songs listeners need to play. They more than achieve that on Heaven to a Tortured Mind, an album that suggests the easiest way to define Tumor is as an artist who consistently outdoes themself.
The record, with all its idiosyncrasies, will be remembered as a definitive piece by one of our era’s most important rock icons—a pop star as transgressive and rule-breaking as the legends of the ’70s and ’80s we take for granted now.
It's the sound of a new kind of warped pop star — an artist capable of weaving the unending unknown of space and the throb of blood and skin, willing to take us and destroy us and create something wholly new from what remains.
Musically, Heaven to a Tortured Mind could not be further from the work of Richard D James, but when it comes to audaciousness, they’re kindred spirits.
Heaven To A Tortured Mind is the kind of album that challenges listeners sonically and lyrically, and makes absolutely no bones about it.
The iconoclastic artist moves to a plush and magisterial kind of rock music for a gratifying and intense record, one whose pleasures are viscerally immediate.
Heaven to a Tortured Mind is strikingly disorientating at times, yet there is an immediate familiarity to it. This is rock reimagined for a new century, to use Tumor’s words, as thrilling and unpredictable as it must have felt during its heyday.
Heaven To a Tortured Mind is as intoxicating, exhilarating, daring, and adventurous as fans have come to expect of Yves Tumor.
Heaven To A Tortured Mind is one of the best rock albums to have been released in recent years. Dark and scary, it pushes the confines of genre to its edge, willing its listeners to fall into its untold depths.
The same standard isn’t maintained throughout the album after a dizzying opening quarter, but if it was then you would be looking at an all-time classic instead of what Heaven… is – merely an extremely rewarding and uncompromising work that isn’t afraid to offer simple pleasures or challenging listens.
Sean Bowie’s creative imagination is extraordinary: experimental, capable of any genre, with an internal logic powering its shifts in mood.
It’s so heart-rending you could keep yourself wrapped inside its comfort for hours and not come out. To all those troubled minds and torn hearts clinging to the past, this is utterly heavenly.
There are too many simultaneous ideas, too much comfort in saturating the sound palette throughout Heaven to a Tortured Mind for it to have mass appeal, and yet it is that very freewheeling experimentation that makes it such an intoxicating listen.
Densely built and brightly produced, with gleefully obtrusive guitar swells and vocal yelps sparing for the spotlight; this is very much an unashamedly pop record.
Tumor’s latest works on the issues of Safe while reaching for new genres and ideas, creating a project that’s a very strong step in the right direction.
Heaven to a Tortured Mind, a surreal celebration of soul, Britpop, and glam rock, has greater clarity and flourish than Yves Tumor's previous work.
In trying to bridge the gap between “weird” and “pop” tendencies, Heaven to a Tortured Mind fails to sufficiently capture the charms of either side, leaving a collection of slick-sounding but undercooked pieces. Buried deep down are the seeds of a cogent critique of tropes related to romantic love, but it never develops into an impactful message.
yves tumor hits us with a music mix of performance art, soul, electronic, alternative, jazz, glam, experimental, noise, art rock, punk, psychedelic, and much more. the music is wildly accessible even beyond its cultish vision.
‘heaven to a tortured mind’ is extremely intricate and very weird. although, it is not nearly as “weird”/existentially unique as yves’ previous album.
this addition to their discography is a detailed cut that may be their most cohesive ... read more
What can I say? That's insane !! Heaven To A Tortured Mind is a veritable explosion of flavours and colours, which instead of blinding you, transports you into the meanders of Yves Tumor's deviant universe.
Whether you feel like you're in the room that separates heaven and hell, it's actually quite normal since with Yves Tumor it's a bit of both, you never know what to expect, nor on which foot to dance. And that's what's so crazy about this marvellous album. First of all, it's important to ... read more
Heaven To A Tortured Mind is an incredible album with instrumentation that is just as dynamic and passionate as much of Yves's previous work, but in this instance it is accompanied by vocals that are consistently transcendental and oh-so-engrossing. That's not to say I don't love the vocals on their previous work - because I absolutely fucking adore them - but this album brings change for the better; Yves's performances are frequently bombastic and infectiously eccentric. While I personally ... read more
Not one of the best albums I've ever heard, but the off-kilter grooves and other-wordly production make for one hell of an experience that doesn't last too long overall
It's a really catchy album, it's pretty mood heavy, and there are some legitimate highlights on here, but also a few duds that weigh it down for me just a little bit
Production is smooth, the vocals are on point, and the vibes are immaculate, but it could've been executed a bit better is all
Solid to a Strong 7 to the whole ... read more
Got beter with each listen. Some of the songs just hit different when you're in the right vibe.
Romanticist - Dream Palette combo is the strongest here imo
1 | Gospel For A New Century 3:18 | 95 |
2 | Medicine Burn 4:04 | 85 |
3 | Identity Trade 1:59 | 82 |
4 | Kerosene! 5:05 | 96 |
5 | Hasdallen Lights 2:07 | 80 |
6 | Romanticist 1:46 | 90 |
7 | Dream Palette 2:55 | 90 |
8 | Super Stars 3:05 | 89 |
9 | Folie Imposée 3:05 | 82 |
10 | Strawberry Privilege 3:52 | 83 |
11 | Asteroid Blues 2:02 | 81 |
12 | A Greater Love 3:04 | 86 |
#2 | / | The Vinyl Factory |
#3 | / | No Ripcord |
#3 | / | Treble |
#4 | / | Crack Magazine |
#4 | / | The Skinny |
#5 | / | PopMatters |
#5 | / | The New York Times: Lindsay Zoladz |
#6 | / | The FADER |
#7 | / | Pitchfork |
#8 | / | Exclaim! |