Heaven Affair : Something the Lord Made
SLAPS!
Heaven Affair
Something the Lord Made
Note: We’re now applying the SLAPS! tag to some reviews of highlights here at Big Duck. In short, we think these songs are really, really good - they SLAP.
Indonesian quartet Heaven Affair dub themselves as “soulful punk” – but on their previous work, however, it always seemed like an either/or affair. With singles like Lean In Moi and De La Paige, the quintet always elected to go in one direction rather than experiment, trying their hand at either run-of the mill indie rock propulsion or funk-based grooves. However, on both directions, the band never seemed to achieve wonderful results, always stopping short of reaching a point where they melded their influences naturally. Their tracks always seemed either hampered by sub-par mixes, or songwriting that didn’t leave much room for hooks to linger.
But on their fourth single, Something The Lord Made, things seem to have cleared up a whole lot for Heaven Affair. It doesn’t take a few seconds to discover the newfound space the band have given their music: here, it’s precious air that allows for their music to breathe, oxygen that finally brings their silky smooth quality as a band to the forefront. Beginning with sparse, delay-tinged arpeggios, the track opens with dreamy scenes, as washed-out chords soundtrack frontman Michael Dylino’s musings on aging and insecurity: “Counting shadows as they form an entity / That’s the only answer for our sense,” he croons. As riffs slowly intersect each other and build with a slow-burn energy, they replace the former clutter in their tracks with deliberate, dusty atmospherics, situated somewhere between King Krule’s The Ooz and the spaced-out funk of Yves Tumor. Thanks to their carefully sparse arrangements and a relative fidelity boost, the entrance of every element becomes an emotive center, delivering an impact with every subtle build. As the track edges weightlessly towards its two minute mark, the band enters a blazing solo, drenching the track in a seductive psychedelic glow. The result is intoxicating, as the band gently lures you to an epic crescendo - only to mislead you in tasteful deception.
Just as their climax starts to risk entering overly-sentimental territory, the quartet take a daring left turn in the track, revealing its long build to be pure set up. It’s a masterful red herring: as they suddenly halt their builds to a stop, a sharp guitar figure enters, muffled in the distance. And as they dial the haze back into focus, the quintet drop into a stunning beat switch, revealing not just the true focus of the track, but their genuine strength as a band. Here, they launch into a snippet of irresistible grooves, as they take the track to effortlessly stylish territory, with its snappy drums and syncopations placing them somewhere in the worlds of Tokyo Jihen melodicism and D’Angelo-like bounce. The result is nothing short of incredible - and just as they reveal enough of their identity, they throw the curtain down at just 40 seconds, but the impact has already been delivered. Like a sucker punch out of nowhere, Heaven Affair’s latest leaves you only with exciting questions, knocked dizzy and looking for more with its final seconds. Closing on an incredibly potent note, they finally achieve their mission in fusing their best influences, and show that they’ve had their best trick up their sleeve all along. The Lord may be on their side for their next effort - but for what this time’s worth, there’s plenty of soul waiting to show for it.
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