Heavenly are an indie pop band who released four critically acclaimed albums between 1991-1996, becoming key figures in the independent music scenes of both the UK and US through their associations with seminal labels Sarah Records and K Records. Highly influential on what has become known as “twee pop”, they inspired generations of musicians with their perfect blend of punk energy and pop sensibility.
Originally forming in Oxford in 1989 from the ashes of legendary punk pop combo Talulah Gosh, Heavenly features Amelia Fletcher (vocals/guitar), Peter Momtchiloff (guitar), Robert Pursey (bass), Cathy Rogers (keyboards/vocals) and Ian Button (drums).
Members of the indiepop scene in the UK and the burgeoning Riot Grrrl scene in the US, Heavenly created a unique blend of infectious melody and sharp-edged lyrics. The band’s original catalogue ran from jangly debut “Heavenly vs. Satan” (1991), through the harmony-rich “Le Jardin de Heavenly”(1992) and riot grrrl-influenced “The Decline and Fall of Heavenly” (1994), to the Britpop era “Operation Heavenly” (1996).
Heavenly reformed in 2023, after a 27 year hiatus. Amelia and Rob had been angrily approached by their daughters, wanting to know why their parents’ old songs were all over their TikTok timelines. Having established that this was not an algorithmic blip, and that there was genuine interest in their old songs, the band decided to play a few shows. Reunion shows in London, Paris, Madrid and New York sold out quickly, with both original Heavenly fans and a much younger audience clamouring to see the group live.
Newly rejuvenated, the band started writing songs again. A new 7” single “Portland Town” was released in July 2025 and their fifth album comes out in February 2026.
On their spring 2026 dates, the band will play songs from the band’s past career alongside tracks from the new album. This combination is important to the group. “If you’re just doing your old songs and nothing else, you’re almost like one of those cover bands—but of yourself. That would have felt pretty weird pretty quickly,” says Amelia Fletcher.
Their spring 2026 tour also marks three decades since the release of “Operation Heavenly.” The band had expected their fourth album to be their most successful but they never promoted it properly due to the death of original drummer Mathew Fletcher just before its release. Drummer Ian Button now completes the Heavenly line-up.
Alongside Heavenly these days, Amelia, Rob and Ian currently also play in Brian Bilston and The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound; and Peter plays in The Would-Be-Goods and Tufthunter.
Carrying on the long tradition of sentimental jangle pop songwriters, Lightheaded distill decades of lovelorn tunes into sounds for modern softies. They have the sunshine sparkle of Margo Guryan, the C86 charm of Dolly Mixture, and the cinematic swell of Belle & Sebastian.
Formed on the Jersey Shore by Cynthia Rittenbach and Stephen Stec, Lightheaded took time to hone their sound with a rotating crew of drummers, guitarists and backup vocalists. They found a community of like-minded bands in a vast but tight-knit international indie pop scene, which eventually led them to the iconic California label Slumberland Records. Their debut EP, “Good Good Great!” landed in 2023 followed by the full-length “Combustible Gems” in 2024.
Their latest EP — “Thinking, Dreaming, Scheming!” — is their most collaborative and earnest release to date, and marks their first collaborative release with Slumberland and the UK’s Skep Wax label. Recorded bi-coastally with Gary Olson (The Ladybug Transistor) and Alicia Vanden Heuvel (The Aislers Set, Poundsign) and drenched in lush reverb on tape by Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me), the songs are rendered in a dreamy soft focus that perfectly suits their starry-eyed themes. Adding to all the fun are the cameos and contributions from the new generation of New York indie pop goodness, featuring members of Starcleaner Reunion and Trinket, pushing the songs on this record towards an early high point in the young band’s discography.
An indie/punk band, formed in lockdown 2020, with Hue Williams and Amelia Fletcher, both ex-The Pooh Sticks, plus Rob Pursey and Ian Button.
Rob writes the songs. Band artwork is by Catrin Saran James. The band are joined live by Bob Collins
Their songs are on vinyl, cassette, CD and digitally on Bandcamp. But you’ll only find them on Spotify, Apple Music, etc, once they are old enough to be library music.
Their debut album, Live At The Rum Puncheon is blistering anti-corporate fun.
Swansea Sound was a much loved local radio station in South Wales until 2020 when its corporate owner, Bauer, changed its name to Greatest Hits Radio.
The Rum Puncheon was a disreputable pub in Swansea. It was demolished in the 1980s.