The Hold Steady will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their fifth studio album, Heaven Is Whenever, with a very special double-album reissue. Heaven is Whenever Deluxe Edition arrives on black vinyl and limited-edition colored vinyl on Black Friday, November 27; pre-orders will be available beginning Monday, October 19 via https://theholdsteady.net. All pre-orders receive an exclusive instant grat download of the previously unreleased bonus track, “Separate Vacations,” premiering today at all DSPs and streaming services. In addition, the digital release of Heaven is Whenever Deluxe Edition will be joined by six additional tracks, available exclusively at DSPs and streaming services.
Along with “Separate Vacations,” the newly remastered Heaven Is Whenever Deluxe Edition collects nine rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks as well as exclusive liner notes by Drive-By Truckers co-founding singer-songwriter-guitarist Patterson Hood, who writes, “Heaven Is Whenever” saw one of the most loved bands of this, then still-new century take a perceived stumble and face a small comeuppance. It happens. Many bands don’t survive it, much less come out the other side intact and possibly better than ever…A lesser band might have imploded. Lesser artists might have tried to continue on repeating a successful template that denied the real consequences of the machine they built. Instead they dug deep and pushed onward into a darker night of the soul.”
Produced by longtime collaborator Dean Baltulonis, Heaven Is Whenevermarked the band’s first album following the temporary departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay. Fueled by such singles as “Hurricane J,” “Rock Problems,” “The Weekenders,” and “Barely Breathing,” the album made a top 5 debut on Billboard’s “Top Alternative Albums” chart and a top 10 debut on “Top Rock Albums” upon its May 4, 2010 release while also entering the overall SoundScan/Billboard 200 at #26 – the Hold Steady’s highest chart position to that point.
