Mister Heavenly

The leaders of two indie acts, both alike in their taste for putting a smiley face on death and destruction, walk into a studio. By the time they emerge from what was supposed to be a session for a one-off, instrumental 7-inch, they’ve written an album’s worth of material and looped in the auxiliary percussionist from another popular band with a macabre streak. Such is the abbreviated story of Mister Heavenly, the trio of Islands’ Nick Thorburn, Man Man’s Honus Honus, and Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer. That album, this summer’s Out Of Love, isn’t too far removed from its creators’ main gigs—but it does do an efficient, hooky job of updating star-crossed R&B narratives for the blog era.

Updated 11/02/2011