Heaven for Real - Who Died & Made You the Dream
Mint Records
Released on November 7th, 2025
Veering delicately off the roads most travelled, Heaven For Real has harvested the best aspects of their prior eras into a new album that feels fresh and inventive, yet unmistakably on-brand. Who Died & Made You the Dream? might be their most straightforward release in recent years, but doesn’t lack any of their usual charm - never deranged, but always strange. While I love everything the brothers Grundy touch, Who Died & Made You the Dream? imprints on the head and the heart in equal measure, straddling the line between experimental art piece and elegant self-reflection.
Lead lyricist Mark Grundy (one-half of the twin duo that steers the project) employs an almost cut-up style of writing; not quite nonsensical yet intentionally enigmatic, he skillfully dulls some of the finer points in order to get at the emotional core. Whereas in prior releases, the band seemed to lean into intentional crypticism, WD&MYTD? does not shy away from simpler, more relatable concepts - aptly described in their own bulletin as “some of their strongest ‘big hook’ songwriting to date”.
Second single “Unltd. Time” gives us the most sing-along-able track of the album. Oscillating deftly between souped-up cynicism and throwing caution to the wind, the song gently draws attention to just how short life really is. “Points out to feel the knife / winds defined the edge of life / like the petals of the lotus / it’s dirty on the other side”. With fuzzed-out vocals and a catchy riff, H4R arrests us with their defiant proclamation: “UNLIMITED TIME!” before dipping back into an almost danceable groove. And just when you think the song is finished, a breakdown busts through the door, scream-singing “I’VE BEEN IN A MAD RUSH!” and the ticking clock snaps back into focus. The song’s playful nihilism is only exalted by the accompanying music video, a glitchy karaoke nod that seems like an inspirational speaker’s worst nightmare.
Although not a single, “Super Bored” stands out as a sincere and sparkling song that puts some of the album’s denser pieces in perspective. Relatively unembellished, making space for Laura Jeffery’s tight snare-work to shine, the song pulls at the heartstrings with a sentimentality not often heard in the H4R repertoire. Mark manages to slip in tender lines like “inside you is a garden, and a world I swear I saw”, amongst a tangled web of philosophical heft. Ambiguous though it may be, “Super Bored” can bring you to tears if you catch the drift. “My bar-light lover / it was you and me in fourteen degrees / escaping through each season’s reach / I’ve done it, and I will again”.
Egg-punky toe-tapper “Improvement” also shines bright, perhaps serving as the best example of *classic* Heaven For Real; dare I say it harkens back to the Quaker Parents’ days of the early 2010s? (As someone who still wears their No Crime When Covered in Grime shirt, I feel qualified to offer this analysis). While most of WD&MYTD? presents a more calm, collected, perhaps mature (?) side of the band, “Improvement” absolutely tarries in the proggy, absurdist-leaning jazz of their earlier years. While the heart of the lyrics lie in self-criticism, the delivery is so rollicking and bizarre, one can’t help but find it endearing. Choice lyrics include: “in the pan legs criss-crossed sitting, praying to above, wearing caramel colour gloves, with my toe half-stubbed and the mind of a dim bulb” and, my personal favourite, “www.cadillacdoorsusedtomarkthegraveplots heaviness, heaviest calm, lighter than talking about my problems baby”. I love it so much!
Who Died & Made You The Dream? is as eccentric as it is authentic, with lots to chew on through repeat listens. It’s an album that shines bright in an already dazzling catalogue, and one that just might entice you to feel your weirdest feelings, blessed with a newfound assurance that surely you’re not alone in it.