Twee bubblegum-pop forerunners Heavenly returned last Friday with a new album, Highway to Heavenly, after disappearing for thirty years. Yet somehow, front woman and lyricist Amelia Fletcher managed to remain with the same spunky jangly-ness as she had at the beginning of her career. With the increased slew of peppery and loud music led by girls who want to rock out like DC locals Mac N’ Toss and The Raspberry Jams, it feels like Heavenly wanted to reenter the zeitgeist just to remind us who they really were: Fan-proclaimed top dogs of the saccharine yet piercing subgenre of pop music. But, it poses a question of whether their new release should be highly regarded because it’s “really that revolutionary” or just because it’s by post-hiatus ‘90s indie heroes.
That’s not to mean it’s bad, though. The instrumental of “Portland Town” is angrier than the other tracks off this album, setting it aside as something new relative to any of their previous releases; Fletcher’s voice is overtly more robust compared to other Heavenly songs like “Sort of Mine.” It’s not necessarily louder but it sounds like she’s been holding something in for the duration of her career break and is finally letting it out, and the electro-heavy, overridden guitar instrumental feels like an ode to their Riot Grrrl origins. Heavenly’s use of Portland for this song specifically lends a hand to its meaning: Not caring what people think because the entire town is full of “misfits.” It’s a nice message, and the track ties itself down to the classically fun and catchy Heavenly beat, but it’s just not all that exciting. Fletcher deems the line, “Conformity stinks,” although the entirety of the song feels pretty conformed.
The harsh and blunt blow of electric guitar at the beginning was promising, but the rest of the track rendered repetitive and slightly lackluster, almost like the introduction was revving up for something more. It’s not to say that Heavenly was expected to do a complete 180 upon their resurgence, but it is unfortunate that “Portland Town” would ultimately get lost in their new releases that cater their sound to what Heavenly was in the ‘90s. It’s certainly not unpleasant, it’s just not all that memorable.
Graphic by Xanthe Massey.