There’s a familiar sense of pleasure and disappointment when we find someone from our past has moved on. Whether it be an ex-lover that we uncouthly cast aside, or a long-lost friend that had slipped into a cyberspace ether, we want them to do fine without us, but secretly, and cruelly, we’re always a little disappointed when they are.
“So you’re living free” and “no room for me” are the first gambits to one of INHEAVEN’s latest singles, a crushingly raw strut of heartfelt sentiment and a thumping indie guitar crunch. Both grim realisations are capped with a morosely conclusive “and that’s all there is.” There’s a grim finality that runs through this short, but emotionally sapping, song, making it one of INHEAVEN’s finest to date. James Taylor’s sigh of “I’d love you just the same” feels forced but true, the desperate sigh of someone who’s love is slipping out of reach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAEChK7lUe4
The feeling of being adrift, cast aside, lingers large as the song grows, the conviction of being better off alone not providing any comfort. “Are you going? Cos I ain’t leaving,” the chorus announces, a gentle defiance poking through the much bleaker reality.
INHEAVEN, along with Sundara Karma and The Magic Gang, have swiftly been anointed as one of England’s most promising indie outfits, exuding a mid-’00s guitar sensibility with the more washy, moody murmurings of the current climate. ‘All There Is’ is, so far, their finest statement. With a tune as crushing as its lyrics, Heaven might be where they’re at, but at least they’ve visited Hell once.
INHEAVEN tour in September and October.
