The Walkmen - Heaven Vinyl LP

“The detachment you could feel in our earlier records is gone. We felt it was time to make a bigger, more generous statement.” Describing the new album Heaven—produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, Built to Spill)—The Walkmen’s lead singer Hamilton Leithauser portrays a band hitting maturity, comfortable in its mastery after a decade together. Guitarist Paul Maroon adds, “When you’re starting out, you’re just trying to come up with a big idea. After a while, you learn about the process of writing, and about your friends in the band—how they work best.”

It’s been ten years since The Walkmen released their debut album, Everybody Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. Ten years since they mixed their lovingly recorded analogue tapes down to the cheapest CD burner they could find. Ten years since Leithauser snapped Maroon’s arm in a celebratory wrestling match. Ten years since critics attached them to a New York scene they never wanted any part of. But when Leithauser sings “We Can’t Be Beat” on the opening track of Heaven, he means it—like Cool Hand Luke getting up for one more round. “The world is ours,” he declares. This time, he might just be right.