Heavenly

Heavenly are a foundational indie pop band who balance twanging guitars, bouncy tempos, and punk-honest lyrics with vocals that are sweeter than a gallon of lemonade. The band was formed from the ashes of C-86 giants Talulah Gosh. During the first stage of their career, they staked a claim for being just as important to indie pop history with a discography that ranks with the best of any to give the genre a whirl. Beginning with a run of singles on the Sarah label around the turn of the '90s, their group's girl group harmonies and surprisingly tricky melodies were an instant hit. They never lost that initial sound while adding riot grrrl toughness on the Atta Girl EP, expanding their arrangements on 1994's album The Decline and Fall of Heavenly, and edging closer to noisy indie rock territory on 1996's Operation Heavenly. After decades on hiatus the group returned with a record, 2026's Highway to Heavenly, that showed all the hooky energy and warm enthusiasms they were known and loved for had not dimmed a bit. The four founding members of the band -- vocalist Amelia Fletcher, her drumming brother Matthew Fletcher, guitarist Peter Momtchiloff, and bassist Rob Pursey -- were also among the founding members of Talulah Gosh back in 1985. Their new project followed in a direction similar to their previous work, retaining their trademark sweetness-and-light pop flavor but with a tighter, more mature sense of craftsmanship. Formed in Oxford, England during the summer of 1989, Heavenly debuted early the following year with their Sarah label single "I Fell in Love Last Night." A second 7", "Our Love Is Heavenly," preceded the release of the mini-album Heavenly vs. Satan in early 1991. Keyboardist and backing vocalist Cathy Rogers was recruited for the full-length follow-up Le Jardin de Heavenly, and the interlocking vocal style she and Fletcher developed became one of the group's trademark features. The album was the first of the band's output to receive an overseas release thanks to a licensing deal with K Records, and it helped further establish Heavenly as Sarah's flagship act. They followed the record with a 1993 EP titled Atta Girl (or P.U.N.K. Girl in the U.S.) that featured riot grrrl-influenced lyrics and shoegaze-heavy guitars. In 1994, they issued their second LP, The Decline and Fall of Heavenly, on Sarah and K. The album expanded their sound to include a horn section, loungey organs, and cowbell to go along with a batch of their bounciest songs to date. After a 1995 split single with bis that produced the punk-influenced "Trophy Girlfriend," the group moved to Wiija Records to release their third album. 1996's Operation Heavenly sports a heavier sound that's closer to indie rock than earlier efforts, while still retaining their intrinsic sweetness. Tragically, just before the record's release Matthew Fletcher died by suicide. The band retired the name Heavenly and after a time returned as Marine Research for one record, 1999's Sounds from the Gulf Stream. After they split, Rogers turned to a career on television, while Fletcher and Pursey formed Tender Trap and Momtchiloff joined the Would-Be-Goods. The trio continued their musical careers alongside real-world pursuits -- like Fletcher's career as a respected economist and Momtchiloff's work as an editor at the Oxford University Press. Fletcher and Pursey started the Catenary Wires, Fletcher joined former Pooh Stick Hue Williams in Swansea Sound, and Momtchiloff played with Scarlet's Well, Les Clochards, and his own group Tufthunter. Heavenly's music received a long-overdue retrospective release with 2020's collection of singles A Bout de Heavenly, which was released by Damaged Goods. Shortly afterward, Fletcher and Pursey formed a label called Skep Wax and one of their projects was reissuing heavenly albums; Le Jardin de Heavenly in 2023, Operation Heavenly in 2025. Right around that time the band re-formed with Ian Button -- who was also in Swansea Sound -- on drums, and played their first live show in decades. They also recorded an album of new material that captured the hooky joy of their early albums while adding confidence and some new influences like indie disco and post-punk. Highway to Heavenly was issued by Skep Wax in early 2026 and the band launched a worldwide tour shortly after its release. ~ Tim Sendra & Jason Ankeny, Rovi