Pitchfork

David Byrne had us believe that heaven is a place where nothing ever happens. But that's heresy, at least according to the gospel of Becky Stark, the magnificent voice behind Los Angeles' Lavender Diamond. "In heaven, there is no heat," goes the title declaration of this tune that originally appeared on LD's 2005 EP The Cavalry of Light. Stark makes her claim in a voice that permeates politely, the ponderous beauty of Nico and the crystalline grace of Emmylou Harris coalescing. A voice like this could convince anyone of anything-- heaven, hell, life, death-- and the simple guitar/drum/piano/tambourine accompaniment puts the emphasis where it belongs.

"Dream the kind of life that you will find/ That kind of love that lasts forever," Stark pleads, sweetly selling utopian aphorisms like Linda Ronstadt around a campfire in a redwood forest. As with the Talking Heads, nothing ever happens: Verse one is identical to verse two is identical to verse three, and the chorus follows suit. But repetition this beatifically beautiful should last forever. If only it would.