Hold Steady - 'Heaven Is Whenever' Review

The Hold Steady’s new album, Heaven Is Whenever, is the band’s first record since keyboardist Franz Nicolay left the group earlier this year. Perhaps not surprisingly then, Heaven lacks some of the Springsteen-ian bar-band spirit of previous efforts, but that sonic shift turns out to do the Hold Steady a lot of good. A taut, focused effort, Heaven Is Whenever might be the band’s most hopeful and romantic disc, and even if it sags slightly near the end it’s one of the group’s very best.

Over the course of four studio releases in four years, the Hold Steady established a distinctive aesthetic: smart, emotional short-story songs fortified by back-to-basics indie-rock that’s heavily indebted to the messy urgency of the Replacements and ’70s-era Bruce Springsteen. But by the last of those four records, 2008’s Stay Positive, the band’s approach was starting to become a little familiar, especially as Nicolay’s keyboards were becoming more of the centerpiece of frontman Craig Finn’s tunes. But with Nicolay exiting the band, Heaven Is Whenever’s material feels more stripped-down, despite the fact that it remains as boisterous and yearning as usual. Finn still tells stories about hopeless losers and cautious lovers, but the songs have more juice to them this time around, maybe because Nicolay’s departure inspired Finn to shake things up.

As is the case with most Hold Steady records, Heaven Is Whenever packs its strongest, most immediate songs near the beginning, creating a brilliant headlong rush that can be hard to sustain over the length of an album. But Heaven Is Whenever flips that script somewhat in that its opening track isn’t a turn-it-up rocker but is, instead, “The Sweet Part of the City,” a wistful, almost-country reminiscence about the early days of a band. It’s a daring change of pace as an album opener for the Hold Steady, but it works perfectly, setting the tone for a record that’s less about young screw-ups than it is about folks who are way past adolescence and trying to negotiate the adult world. From there, the revved-up guitars of “Soft in the Center” kick in, ushering in a tale in which the older narrator gives advice to a young listener about true love. Subsequent songs deal with disastrous love affairs (“The Weekenders”) and aging party animals trying to squeeze some fun out of their mundane lives (“The Smidge”), and the music matches the highs and lows of the characters’ existence. These songs are all insanely engaging, but as usual Finn’s lyrics add to the enjoyment, offering little snapshots into recognizable human desires, hopes and fears.

If the rest of Heaven Is Whenever doesn’t quite match the power of its opening salvo, then Finn compensates with some of his most poignant songs. “We Can Get Together” and “Hurricane J,” which appear back to back on the album, are two sides of the same coin, as Finn gives us two narrators reaching out to the women in their lives. The melancholy “We Can Get Together,” which includes what sounds like a choral group singing background vocals, details the quiet special moments in a couple’s relationship. Meanwhile, “Hurricane J” is an openhearted ode to a woman at a crossroads – the narrator clearly adores her, but he’s also worried that maybe she needs to move on in her life. The rousing chorus practically breaks your heart and forms a nice counterpoint to the fragile romanticism of “We Can Get Together.” Most Hold Steady love songs are about couples who can’t quite make love last, but Heaven Is Whenever contains some of Finn’s most articulate, complex examinations of star-crossed relationships.

As Heaven Is Whenever reaches its conclusion, Finn gets more ambitious, throwing in a jaunty horn section for “Barely Breathing” and shooting for the stars on the suite-like seven-minute finale “A Slight Discomfort.” In comparison to the tight, three-minute tracks that precede them, these feel like experiments that don’t entirely work. But even if Heaven Is Whenever doesn’t end as well as it begins, the album as a whole suggests that rather than sticking to a reliable formula Finn wants to keep pushing himself creatively. The album’s title comes from a line in “We Can Get Together”: “Heaven is whenever/we can get together.” In the context of the song, it’s a romantic sentiment expressed by one partner to the other. But it can also be interpreted as Finn’s relationship with his audience, whom certainly feel the same uncertainties and dreams as he and his narrators do.

'Heaven Is Whenever' – Best Tracks:

“The Weekenders” (Purchase/Download)
“The Sweet Part of the City” (Purchase/Download)
“The Smidge” (Purchase/Download)
“Soft in the Center” (Purchase/Download)
“Hurricane J” (Purchase/Download)

Release date – May 4, 2010
Vagrant Records