Heaven (Dilly Dally album)

The album was recorded in Los Angeles, California with producer Rob Schnapf.{{Cite web|last=Vozick-Levinson|first=Simon|last2=Vozick-Levinson|first2=Simon|date=2018-09-06|title=Dilly Dally Went Through Hell to Get to 'Heaven'|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dilly-dally-heaven-interview-719714/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} The album came about during a time when the band were close to quitting, not long after their non-stop tour schedule after their debut album release in 2015.

On June 26, 2018, Dilly Dally announced the release of their second studio album, along with the first single "I Feel Free".{{cite web|url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/dilly-dally-announce-new-album-heaven|title=Dilly Dally Announce New Album|work=Clash|last=Murray|first=Robin|date=June 26, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}} Of the single, vocalist Katie Monks said: "This song is me asking my bandmates to let go of what’s been weighing us down. We’re not going to let the past hold us back from our dreams. Let's do this thing."{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dilly-dally-preview-new-album-with-searing-i-feel-free-666985/|title=Dilly Dally Preview New Album With Searing 'I Feel Free'|work=Rolling Stone|last=Blistein|first=Jon|date=June 26, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}}

The second single "Sober Motel" was released on August 8, 2018.{{cite web|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/08/dilly-dally-sober-motel/|title=Dilly Dally kick their bad habits on new song "Sober Motel"|website=Consequence of Sound|last=Schatz|first=Lake|date=August 8, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}} Monks explained the single "is a celebration of sobriety, in the midst of an industry that is anything but. I wrote it in a motel bathroom after taking a mystical shower alone. There was something really pure about it all."

The third single "Doom" was released on September 6, 2018.{{cite web|url=https://diymag.com/2018/09/06/dilly-dally-share-new-single-doom|title=Dilly Dally Share New Single|work=DIY|date=September 6, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}}

The fourth single "Marijuana" was released on November 13, 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/dilly-dally-new-marijuana-video-755306/|title=See Dilly Dally’s Katie Monks Cry White Noise In New ‘Marijuana’ Video|work=Rolling Stone|last=Legaspi|first=Althea|date=November 13, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}} The title of the track came about with the legalization of marijuana in Canada, with Monks' explaining "We’ve been inhaling so much fear and hate from our televisions, our leaders, social media. I don’t know about you, but the anxiety and eventual depression became overbearing. The only way I could keep functioning, and get through writing this record, was with some assistance from weed. Basically, if I didn’t write anything good by sun down - I would smoke sativa for good measure. It would clear my creative pathways, help me forget about the expectations of others, and almost hide away in my own protective energy field."{{cite web|url=https://diymag.com/2018/11/13/dilly-dally-marijuana-video-heaven-watch|title=Dilly Dally celebrate weed legalisation in Canada|work=DIY|date=November 13, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}}

In support of the album, the band went on tour, starting on September 7, 2018, in Minneapolis, Minnesota and finishing on November 2, 2018, at Fox Oakland Theatre in Oakland, California. In November 2018, further announcements of the tour were announced from March 19, 2019, to April 20, 2019.{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/dilly_dally_map_out_north_american_heaven_tour|title=Dilly Dally Map Out North American "Heaven Tour"|website=Exclaim!|last=Murphy|first=Sarah|date=November 13, 2018|accessdate=November 8, 2020}}

Heaven was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 82 based on 9 reviews. Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release an 80 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 16 reviews.{{cite web|url=https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/114987-dilly-dally-heaven.php|title=Album of the Year Review|website=Album of the Year|accessdate=November 8, 2020}}

Andy Johnston of The 405 explained: "For an album that’s purportedly all about hope and positivity, Heaven is an almost oppressively heavy listen. The full-blooded energy and youthful, lascivious abandon of the band’s 2015 debut, Sore, is present only in trace elements, replaced by a palpably depressive, inescapably doom-laden mood, punctuated only briefly by bursts of light." Ava Muir of Exclaim! explained: "While Sore was a ferocious and sludgy monster, Heaven feels tamer—a sturdy shoulder to lean on rather than mosh your pent-up rage to. Amidst hazy guitar riffs, melodic bass tones, and the frequent swap of Katie Monks' vocals from her distinctively raspy howl to more subdued singing, Heaven manifests as its own beast entirely."

The release got ranked at Number 32 on Exclaim!'s Top 50 Canadian Albums of the 2010s.{{cite web|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/exclaim_50_best_canadian_albums_of_the_2010s/page/2|title=Exclaim!'s 50 Best Canadian Albums of the 2010s|website=Exclaim!|date=October 31, 2019|accessdate=November 8, 2020}}

{{Track listing

|headline=Heaven track listing

|title1=I Feel Free

|length1=3:40

|title2=Doom

|length2=3:55

|title3=Believe

|length3=4:22

|title4=Sober Motel

|length4=3:48

|title5=Sorry Ur Mad

|length5=3:41

|title6=Marijuana

|length6=4:10

|title7=Pretty Cold

|length7=2:38

|title8=Bad Biology

|length8=4:43

|title9=Heaven

|length9=3:15

}}

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Band Members

• Katie Monks – guitar, vocals
• Liz Ball – guitar
• Jimmy Tony – bass
• Benjamin Reinhartz – drums

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Production

• Rob Schnapf – producer, mixer
• Brian Rosemeyer – engineer
• Mark Chalecki – mastering
• Vanessa Heins – photography

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Category:2018 albums

Category:Partisan Records albums