Ever wanted to make your friends think you’re a hippy, just for the hell of it? Or maybe you’ve felt like seeing your notably conservative parents cringe at the sound of anarchist attitudes put forth by anti-establishment young rebels. Whatever your devious motive, “Heaven’s On Fire” will get the little earthy-crunchy insurgent that you truly are as hyped up as can be. Although the electronic world is known to frequently include inspirational, preachy, and occasionally obscure soundbites into their tracks, the inclusion of such monologues in the alternative world is a much more infrequent and interesting sight to see. The Radio Dept. has become known for these fun transitions, and despite not aligning with my own opinions, goofy speeches like the one in “Heaven’s on Fire” bring a consistent grin to my face time after time.

This dream pop duo hails from Lund, Sweden and loosely resembles some sort of modern combination of Pet Shop Boys meeting Joy Division meeting Phish. Weird enough love triangle for you? Well their inception all the way back in 1995 and 20+ year journey to get to a point where it’s a struggle to quantify any sort of major success leads bands like this to gather inspiration from as many notable groups and artists as possible. Major success story or not, I can’t get over the genius lyricism within “Heaven’s On Fire.” At first glance, this may seem like an ode to a lover that lights the heavens aflame with passion and excitement. When diving deeper into the intricacies of this songwriting masterpiece however, it becomes clear that heaven is on fire not because of the protagonist’s affection for the other person, but because that apparent antagonist makes him so upset that he has to reach for the piano wire to ease his pain. Some go even further and say that this antagonist is a representation of the music industry that has brought The Radio Dept. so much torment over the years. Possible? Yes. No need to read into it too much though friends, I’m not going to quiz you on this material.