Heavenly has descended from the high heavens to grace listeners with its presence once again after a 30-year wait. The British riot-grrrl-era pop-rock band enjoyed a moderately successful career in the ’90s, but has recently seen a well-deserved resurgence in popularity.

The band stopped making music under the name Heavenly in 1996, after the passing of their original drummer, Matthew Fletcher, Amelia Fletcher’s younger brother. After the 2020 re-release of a collection of their old singles, their 1993 song “P.U.N.K. Girl” gained them a new generation of TikTok listeners. Now, lead vocalist and guitarist Amelia Fletcher, keyboard player Cathy Rogers, drummer Ian Button, guitarist Peter Momtchiloff and bassist Rob Pursey are back.

Their fifth album, released Feb. 27, “Highway to Heavenly,” feels like dusting off a time capsule in the best way, but doesn’t necessarily match up to the band’s former glory. Still, as the album progresses, the band comes back together, working together to find their sound again.

“Scene Stealing” is sadly not a strong start, with confusing backing vocals from Rogers that clash with Fletcher’s lead vocals, making it difficult to understand her. While the song boasts a catchy melody, it has little build-up, variation or dynamics, and gets repetitive fast. Halfway through, when it should have ended, a strange instrumental solo is played with high-pitched whistling tones and rhythmic strumming, which do not match the pace.

The second track, “Portland Town,” does start strong, but quickly loses steam. It takes a moment for the instrumental to come in, and the lyrics “I’ve never been brave / I’ve never been tough / But sometimes you have to say / That’s enough,” immediately create intrigue. Staccato chord progressions add to the rhythm, but it’s not long before the ringing falsetto backing vocals distract from the melody again.

At this point, it becomes clear what the problem is: The mixing sounds off because the background harmonies are the same volume as the lead vocals, and the harmonies confuse and overwhelm rather than create depth.

Thankfully, in contrast, “Press Return” is very sonically interesting. What sounds like an accordion is played over a catchy, rhythmic track — one that sounds like it would be played at the end of a coming-of-age movie as the protagonist walks down a street with purpose.

Drums lead into “Skep Wax,” which holds a special meaning to the band. The track takes its name from Fletcher and Pursey’s record label. The lyrics, “Oh I’m just me / And that’s a fact / And you’re just you / We’re differently the same,” are charmingly simple, adding to the overall theme of radical self-acceptance that seems to permeate the album’s messaging.

The next track, “Deflicted,” continues the trend of straightforward, honest storytelling. At the end of the day, not all songwriters must wax poetic to get their point across. There’s a power behind their short declarative sentences — they may be simple in construction, but they still hold power. “I can see you, you are see-through” is a probing, touching lyric that proves sometimes less is more.

“A Different Beat” tells another story of a couple, but this time in the third person: “6-foot-5 / Said that he’d be waiting / 5-foot-4 / She was hesitating.” This style of storytelling and the narrative which recounts a woman escaping a controlling relationship are quite engaging, and the rhythm of the lyrics makes it sound somewhat akin to a cautionary fable.

The band has truly found their groove in “The Neverseen,” a slower and sweeter as well as the most nostalgic track on the album. The soft, guitar-forward melody and the call-and-response verses create a lovely cacophony of sound, urging listeners to sway back and forth.

The band blends all the instruments working beautifully in tandem during “She Is The One,” another upbeat tune. The album almost sounds like a live set, though the beginning songs sounded somewhat disjointed. However, as it progresses, the band really gels, working out the kinks and finding their sound again. The song is a joy to the ear and the heart as it really feels like they’re having fun playing together again after all these years.

The closing track, “That Last Day,” is a sad story, ending the album on a somber yet affectingly earnest note. The lyrics are heartbreaking as Fletcher sings of the last day she saw her younger brother Matthew.

“There is never a right time,” she sings, “But we said our last goodbyes.” She sings about his memorial service, ending the album with the heartbreaking question, “And did I do all that I could?”

Time has only made the heart grow fonder of Heavenly. “Highway to Heavenly” represents a resilient return for the band, who have proven that they still have many more stories to tell.