Hearts of Heaven

Hearts of Heaven is the debut studio album by Antarctican singer-songwriter Lucy Verghanta. The album was announced in July 2011, and production started from then until January 2012. The album is to be released on February 14, 2012 - to collide with Valentines Day, under Club Penguin Music Records. Producers Yusei, Ray Kodo, Zippy Penguin, Petey K, Tim and Tom and DJ Crab worked on the songs. Five singles are to be released from "Hearts of Heaven". The album mainly focuses on love and break-up songs, but also contains vibes of natural pop tunes. The ten songs on the album tell similar stories to each other while focusing on the topics of love, break-up, forgiveness and anger. One collaboration is present on the album.

"Hearts of Heaven" was immensely successful, hitting the top certification in Club Penguin (Diamond), and going 10x Platinum in the USA within 4-5 months of the release. It entered the USA chart at number 1, selling 600,000 copies in its first week. The album attracted critical praise for it's original and different tune, the lyrical depth of the songs and Lucy's vocal performance. The lead single, "Loved Ones (Tonight)", peaked at number 1 in numerous charts and was a successful debut for Lucy. Four more singles were released from the album from October 2011 to March 2012. "Hearts of Heaven" is currently the seventh best-selling album worldwide.

Background
Lucy was signed to Club Penguin Music Records in early June 2011. Producer Yusei said that "she began working on her album just 2 minutes after signing. [She would be] Like "Oh I'll start writing now" and got a pen and paper and jotted down lyrics. I was impressed." After performing her 1-2 minute demo-songs as a supporting act on the Penguin Band tour (with the only support of a guitar) the Band's manager contacted the executives at CPMR and signed her. When album planners asked her what she wanted on the album, she said: "I want it to be a slow, love album." This sort of music was very rare when it came to Club Penguin Music Records - let alone a whole album based on it. "I've gone through it before" said Lucy on the topic of her album. The album is largely influenced on her break-up with a past, anonymous boyfriend which reportedly happened in May 2011. "Music is something to let your feelings out with. It's what I had to do. The genres should be slow pop, R&B and blues." Eventually the managers accepted what Lucy wanted for the album and got top producers to work with Lucy. "I really wanted Yusei to produce" said Lucy. "He's the kind of guy that can do all sorts of music." Others such as DJ Crab, Zippy Penguin and Ray Kodo mostly done lively and energetic music, so Lucy had to guide them throughout the whole production stage and get what she needed. Tim and Tom were the exceptions to the rule of slow music, as Lucy wanted atleast one song that had quite a steady but fast beat - which Tim and Tom produced. Because many of the producers didn't work with instruments such as the piano and guitar, Lucy scouted for penguins that could lend some of their talent to Lucy's song. Franky, who is Lucy's cousin, heard about this predicament and offered his acoustic guitar skills to Lucy. Petey K was scheduled to produce for Lucy too, and gave her his skills too (who played the accordion and piano). Petey then asked Stompin' Bob and G Billy to contribute too with their drums, flute, double bass and cello. Because of their tour getting in the way of recording, all recording had to take place in just a week - which took place at the end of their tour in early January 2012.

Lucy was thinking of putting no collaborations on the album, but if she was going to choose an artist to work with she wanted the artist to be a female. "Two female voices certainly interact more with each other than a male voice." said Lucy. While talking about inspirations, Lucy said: "Anna Ice is definitely an inspiration to me." After finding out she was available, Lucy approached her and discussed the topic of doing a song together. Anna, only knowing a bit of Lucy, did agree because she was amazed by Lucy's voice. Lucy got Petey K to work on their song as she wanted a lot of piano on the song, and knew that Petey could give her a marvellous and original beat. All the plans behind the album were complete by September.

Writing and recording
Managers tried to get Lucy to not contribute in the song-writing of the songs, but Lucy disagreed and said that she wanted to write every one of her songs. They settled an agreement that Lucy would write each song but would get co-writers on some of the songs. Five of the six producers contributed to the song-writing phase. Antarctican singer-songwriter Nevim contributed to some of the songs too. The first single, and song, on the album - "Loved Ones (Tonight)" - was written by Lucy and Yusei, and produced by the latter. Most of Lucy's lyrics were written in her igloo privately, and were then read to others in the studio. Others contributed to the lyrics in the studio. Track 8 on the album - "One Clear Night in June" - was written, as the name suggests, during one clear night in June. "I was inspired by the night to write that song." said Lucy while talking about it. "Originally I had written all the song by myself after I couldn't get to sleep one day. I got up, went to my desk and stared out of the window. The name just immediately popped into my head and I began writing. I finished it within the hour. The song was originally about 3 and a half minutes, but then Yusei added his own verse in the studio and extended it a bit because he though it would be better if it was longer. It was then extended to over 5 minutes." The last single, "Burn the Fire", was written with Ray Kodo and produced by Yusei. "Ray's not the one that can write soft lyrics, so I instructed him to write the more strong and aggressive lyrics.

"Someone's Coming" was written by Lucy and Yusei too, and produced by Tim and Tom. "No Mistakes" is the shortest song on the album, at 3 minutes and 48 seconds. Ray Kodo, Zippy Penguin and Lucy wrote the song with Zippy producing it. "The One and Only" and "Panicking" was written entirely by Lucy in her igloo. "The song "Panicking" is about me worrying for no reason." The second single, "One More Chance" was written by Lucy and Nevim. Yusei produced the song. Nevim also wrote lyrics for "Thousand Miles", the third single (co-written with Lucy and DJ Crab) and "Leave Me" - the last single - with Lucy, Anna and Petey K. All songs were recorded in Club Penguin, at Club Penguin Studios or at Lucy's igloo. "No Mistakes", the second song on the album, was co-written by Ray Kodo and Zippy Penguin and mostly written by Lucy. "Leave Me" is the ninth (out of the ten songs) on the album. While talking about the song, Lucy said: "Me and Anna wrote the song peacefully in her igloo. Then lyrics were added to it later. It's a song about our guys' leaving us, and that we shouldn't really care."

Title and development
Lucy originally intended to title the album The Loved Ones, naming it after the lead single off the album. She explained that "it relates to all the penguins in relationships." She decided against the title as she wanted something "more easy to recognize and remember." The title was finalized to Hearts of Heaven. Lucy thought of the name herself while writing drafts for song lyrics. There was also a song titled "Hearts of Heaven" which was going to be a bonus track for a Deluxe Edition but the plans were cancelled and so Lucy released the song online for free download. Originally Club Penguin Music Records didn't like the name as they felt it wasn't too good for a debut, but Lucy (with the support of Yusei) persuaded them.


 * "It's original, it's easy to remember. It has the same meaning to the original title. It's dedicated to all the true relationships that have a meaning. Yusei was the one who thought of the Heaven part. I thought of the first part. It originates from the "Hearts of Heaven" song I wrote. Originally the label wanted me to name it after me, Lucy Verghanta, but to me naming an album after yourself just isn't right. It's like you are trying to glorify yourself and not your music. I decided to go against The Loved Ones, as it just felt suitable as a song name, not an album name. I change my mind a lot. No other name was coming in my head, just I just knew it was right."
 * — Lucy Verghanta, on her blog, talking about the album title.

Critics praised the name that was chosen for the album, and how it was so different to others - including the music. Many thought that the name reflects on her growing up, and coming out of her teenage years. Yusei was credited for naming a third of the album name. The album was announced in July 2011, and yet many people could guess (after the premiere of the first single) that the work that has gone into the album will amaze many, and will give Lucy her own growing fan-base with the support of her strong vocals.