Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	72/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	8/10
DIY	8/10
Drowned in Sound	6/10
The Guardian
Mojo
musicOMH
NME	6/10
The Observer
Q
Uncut	7/10

Where the Heaven Are We is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Swim Deep, released on 5 August 2013 on Chess Club Records, a subsidiary of RCA. It peaked at number 20 in the UK album charts and received mostly positive reviews.

Two years before releasing the album, Swim Deep released their first demos on the internet before signing with Chess Club. Where the Heaven Are We was produced by Charlie Hugall and recorded in Brussels near the end of 2012.

Swim Deep was formed in 2011 by Austin Williams, Tom Higgins, and Wolfgang J. Harte. Williams and Higgins met in Morrisons, where they both worked. A year later, the two of them moved to Birmingham and met the rest of the band at parties. The band struggled with multiple drummers until they finally recruited Austin's friend, Zachary Robinson, who, at the time, played in a band called Cajole Cajole. On the subject, Austin said, "We thought it was a long shot but we’d just lost another drummer so we asked Zach if he wanted to join our band and he said yeah. That was one of the best things that happened, to be honest." After a few months, Harte announced that he was leaving the band, making the band a three-piece. They recruited Cavan McCarthy, a merchandise seller from another Birmingham band, Peace. Williams compared asking people to join the band to dating, as they both require the same process of being nervous before asking the question and that members can leave too. He also claimed he wants to have "a massive influence on pop music".

In early 2013, Where the Heaven Are We was announced, with its release date set for 29 July 2013. Before the release of Where the Heaven Are We, Swim Deep went to the United States and performed with The Homophones and Fantastic Imagination.

In May, two months prior to the release of Where the Heaven Are We, an EP, Sun on My Back, was released in Japan only. Sun on My Back is composed of early demos, B-sides, and "King City".

Swim Deep recorded Where the Heaven Are We with producer Charlie Hugall, who has also worked with Florence and the Machine. The band first uploaded a few demos on Soundcloud, "Isla Vista" and "Santa Maria", in 2011. Then in 2012, Swim Deep signed with Chess Club and released their debut single, "King City", in May 2012. After a UK tour with Spector in November/December 2012, the band went to Brussels to record Where the Heaven Are We.

...
Wikipedia