Stream: The Arcs, ‘Heaven Is a Place’

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The Arcs, including Richard Swift, far right (Photo by Alysse Gafkjen)

After the Arcs released their debut album, “Yours, Dreamily,” in 2015, the band — Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys), Leon Michels (El Michels Affair), Nick Movshon, Homer Steinweiss and Richard Swift — said there was more music in the works.

After being gutted by Swift’s death in 2018, though, they found it hard to work further on it. “I think all of us couldn’t really listen to the music, couldn’t really face it and try to finish it,” Michels says.

Finally, during the pandemic, Auerbach and Michels revisited the sessions, doing the necessary work to finish the album, “Electrophonic Chronic,” to be released Jan. 27. Much of it was recorded before Swift’s passing.

“This new record is all about honoring Swift,” Auerbach says. “It’s a way for us to say goodbye to him, by revisiting him playing and laughing, singing. It was heavy at times, but I think it was really helpful to do it.”

The second single, “Heaven Is a Place,” damned near opens a portal to the great beyond for that tribute. It’s a soaring, poignant song, amplified by director/animator Robert “Roboshobo” Schober’s video, in which Swift floats through space.

The first single, “Keep on Dreamin’,” was released in October.

||| Watch: The videos for “Heaven Is a Place” and “Keep on Dreamin’”