Heaven
For their seventh album in 10 years, The Walkmen keep refining their strangely catchy brand of moody indie rock. *Heaven* is a bit slower than its predecessors, but Hamilton Leithauser’s wonderfully drawn-out and affected voice is there at the forefront, floating atop a choppy sea of strummed guitars and thick bass lines. Thanks to the renowned Seattle-based producer Phil Ek (his generation’s answer to Joe Boyd), the electric sparks of a great live show combine with the layered intricacies of a labored-over studio album. “Heaven” is a detuned jangle-romp that flirts briefly with being an anthem before going home and crawling into bed. “Line by Line” is an unabashed lullaby. “No One Ever Sleeps” is the soundtrack to a waking dream. And “Heartbreaker” is a suave little foray into the post-Velvets night. When Leithauser intones “We’ll never leave/The world is ours” on “We Can’t Be Beat,” you pray he’s even a little bit right.
On their sixth record, a gloriously pretty collection that features guest vocals from Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold, the Walkmen have made a bewildered, giddy paean to their own happiness.
David Byrne once described heaven as a place where nothing ever happens. The heaven Hamilton Leithauser sings about in the title track of The Walkmen’s seventh album is a similarly uneventful place, and he’s willing to fight to keep it that way.
A glittering gem that reveals the band's mastery of subtle melody. Not a particularly diverse record, just a really lovely one.
For a decade now, The Walkmen have cultivated a distinct sound. Paul Maroon, Walter Martin, Matt Barrick, Peter Bauer and…
However, the Walkmen manage to pull this off on Heaven, which they recorded during the celebration of the band's tenth anniversary.
Despite their success The Walkmen couldn’t claim to be the most adventurous of bands. Ten years on from releasing their debut LP, the New York-based quintet continue to pursue the sort of jangling indie waltzes that regularly bedeck the background of technicolor teenage soap operas. Yet, admirably, the band execute their rigid stock with a refinement that stretches beyond their contemporaries' reach, as proven on 2010’s career high Lisbon.
For their seventh album, Heaven, The Walkmen hired Phil Ek (Built To Spill, The Shins, Modest Mouse, Les Savy Fav, etc.) to handle production duties.