In an interview with NME on 3 February 2023, PinkPantheress expressed her desire to make "a shift towards other styles of music" and revealed plans to potentially release her debut album later that year.[3] Following the success of "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" in early 2023 and the release of "Mosquito" in September, PinkPantheress announced the album on 12 October.[4] She stated that the album is an "accumulation of music [she has] made over the last two years", and is thematically about "being at peace with yourself in your aloneness" as well as "journeying from hell into purgatory, but I'm OK with being there".[5]
Promotion
PinkPantheress released the remix "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" with Ice Spice in February 2023, followed by the single "Mosquito" in late September 2023. The album was announced on social media on 12 October 2023, with PinkPantheress sharing the cover art and the third single "Capable of Love".[6] An accompanying tour titled "The Capable of Love Tour" began in February 2024 with stops in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, France and Germany.[7]
Heaven Knows received a score of 80 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 15 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[8] Larisha Paul of Rolling Stone wrote that "if PinkPantheress often seems adrift in apprehension and loneliness, she inhabits the LP's different purgatorial states with the same confidence that made her early releases so appealing", remarking that she is "never quite distressed" and when she "hits a dead end, she just builds a new road forward from scratch".[18]Dork's Abigail Firth found that the album "retains PinkPantheress' creative spirit but repackages it in a much slicker, Mura Masa-assisted production", calling it "an entirely limitless record".[11] Tanatat Khuttapan of The Line of Best Fit stated that "a whiff of mortality and reincarnation accompanies the majority of Heaven Knows" and felt that the "more satisfactory outcome of collaboration is the album's charismatic sound design" provided by its producers.[13]
Alex Rigotti of NME stated that "there's also plenty of moments where Pink challenges her own sound, one that has previously seen her pigeonholed into a 'Y2K meets drum 'n' bass' label tirelessly. There's organs, tablas, drill bass slides, and rock-inspired drums on Heaven Knows, all of which suggest a commitment to artistry that will continue beyond this debut".[14] Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Paul Simpson described it as "a fully developed refinement of the brisk, intricately arranged pop style she's become known for, with lyrics about romantic infatuations set to pulse-quickening liquid drum'n'bass, U.K. garage, and filter-house rhythms".[14] Colin Joyce of Pitchfork opined that PinkPantheress "transforms her jittery, emotional miniatures into pop songs that feel more extroverted, more joyful, and sometimes more complete" and also "flexes her abilities as a writer, producer, and curator of guest spots".[16]
[20][21][22] Physical Copies features different versions of ''Nice to meet You'', ''Bury Me'' and ''Feelings''.
Sample credits
"Another Life" contains an interpolation of "Ice Cream", performed by f(x), written by Kim Bumin and composed by Hitchhiker
"True Romance " contains an interpolation of "Five Colors In Her Hair", performed by McFly, written by Graig Hardy
"Mosquito" contains an interpolation of "Way Back", performed by Skrillex, written by Skrillex
"The Aisle" contains a sample of "Supalonely", performed by Benee, written by Benee.
"Nice to Meet You" contains a sample of "Gold", performed by Spandau Ballet, written by Gary Kemp. It also contains an interpolation of "Sleep Talk", performed by Zion.T, written by Zion.T.
"Feel Complete" contains a sample of "KU LO SA", performed by Oxlade, written by Oxlade.
"Blue" contains a sample of "Kickstarts", performed by Example, written by Example.
