The Heeters Debut Time and Again

Bay area quartet, The Heeters, released their first full length record Time and Again into the world on May 22, 2026. The 13 track studio album effortlessly revives the roots of soul music’s golden age. With a bit of R&B funk peppered in and a dash of gospel-esque choirs, listeners are met with a feeling of being carried in rejoice and unity.

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Tom Quell takes lead on vocals, guitar and a brief drumming spot on the album, while Nadav Beary primarily masters the band’s rhythmic beats. Lorenzo Loera dominates various keys, sharing part in vocals and interchanging strings with Miles Blackwell taking reign on bass and back up harmonies.

Together they produce a dreamy collaboration of brotherly love. In an interview with Tom, he shed a light on the band’s timeframe of meeting, playing and recording:

“The first iteration of the band played at a festival in summer 2022, and we started recording our album in late summer 2022. It’s been a long time coming.”

“Lorenzo and I have known each other since 2018. Miles came into the picture in 2022, and we met Nadav in probably 2024. We had a couple drummers in former iterations of the band before Nadav joined.”

Four years in the making, Time and Again is nothing short of a labor of pure love. As one could expect in such a lengthy process, there were many additional hands in the pot to thank. Outside of DIY sessions, they found themselves at a myriad of California studios including Greaseland in San Jose, 25th Street Recording in Oakland, Dimed Records in Valley Ford and Strange Manor in Richmond.

Studio engineers Christoffer “Kid” Andersen and Jeff Kolhede were featured on the album along with backing vocals from Sarah Vela and Micaiah Dempsey. Miles Lyons, Beaumont Beaullieu and Oliver Tuttle from Miles and Lorenzo’s other band, The California Honeydrops, also got to play a part in their friends’ album.

Tom expressed the favored, and the lesser than, experiences in the makings of an album sharing that:

“Recording is always fun. We loved the original sessions at Jeremy Lyon’s Dimed Records Studio in Valley Ford. Back before we knew what any of this would turn into. We also loved recording at Kid Anderson’s in San Jose.”

“The most difficult part is all the non-music stuff. The promo, social media, digital realm of things, etc. And how dang expensive it all is- We have spent thousands of dollars trying to finish this thing.”

As aforementioned, the album is nothing short of a labor of love made up of 9 studio sessions, 3 live takes and 1 DIY session. Listeners are presented with a collection of smooth vocals, atmospheric keys, bright riffs and textured drums met with lyrics of loyalty, support, love and devotion.

Tracks are perfectly balanced, leading a journey that lifts you up, mellows you out and welcomes you in. Nothin’ But Love invites the melodic and expressive side of the band, carried into A Love That’s True and Light of My Life.

Taking the rhythm back a few notches, songs like Honey Bunches, If I Were a Bird, Love (It Never Dies) and DIY session Don’t Cry Now Baby highlight their ability to slow things down without compromising on their powerful countertenor ranges.

Tom noted that although his favorite track is always changing, as of now it is DIY track number 7, Don’t Cry Now Baby:

“It’s the only song on the album that we recorded/ engineered all on our own, in Lorenzo’s bedroom, DIY style, and the only song where I play drum kit.”

Funky, cool and easy vibes are brought forward on a groovy bass in tracks Lay Back and Go On and Sing while dynamic buoyancy is found early on in track 2’s Don’t Wanna Do It Alone.

When asked to enlighten on the source of inspiration, Tom swiftly responded by saying:

“Inspiration was all over the place, but Lorenzo and I absolutely love old soul/ R&B. It definitely has a 60s/ 70s soul influence. Lorenzo and I share a favorite artist of all time, Stevie Wonder. We both know pretty much all the Stevie (Lorenzo knows it much more deeply than I do, but I’m a close runner up) and so there’s inevitably some of his sounds in this.”

“Other than that, just all the good old soul stuff. You know, Earth Wind and Fire, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Maze/ Frankie Beverly, Donny Hathaway, etc. Lorenzo and I also absolutely love The Beatles. We’re not afraid to make things catchy and a little bit poppy sometimes.”

A mission that has absolutely been accomplished. The album in it’s entirety projects the allotted teamwork that went into it. There is a balanced feeling of embracement and freedom, reeling listeners in with comforting reminders of awareness in the self and within others.

Naturally after four long years of dedication, Tom highlighted his sense of relief, hinting towards the work not being over yet:

“It’s like a big weight is off my shoulders. It has taken longer than any of us would have liked it to take. It’s also so exciting to be able to share it finally. And honestly, we are already working on the second album, so feeling pretty ready to keep creating and recording more.”

You heard it here folks, this vivacious quartet is churning out more as we speak. Even if it did take another four years, at least we know it’d be worth it.

The Heeters will be hosting two album release shows on June 11th in Oakland, CA and June 12th in Santa Cruz, CA with friends Wren and Juniper Ingber.

Fans can keep up with them on social media, follow individual members, and all of their friends for even more independent content.

It’s without a doubt these guys are not something to sleep on. Check out Time and Again, streaming now on all platforms and available on vinyl at up coming shows!