"Handmade Heaven" is a song recorded and written by Welsh singer and songwriter Marina for her fourth studio album, Love + Fear (2019). The song was produced by Joel Little and serves as Marina's first solo release following a name change in 2018. It was released for digital download and streaming as the album's lead single on 8 February 2019 by Atlantic Records. Two versions of a remix of the song, produced by Irish DJ Krystal Klear, were released in March 2019. The song's lyrics were inspired by climate change and serve as an ode to Marina's passion for nature. Marina chose the track to be the lead single because she felt its sound was distinctive and different from the rest of the album.
Musically, "Handmade Heaven" is a slow-building synth-pop, pop, and electro ballad that was compared to the works of Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and Madonna. Some reviewers described it as a musical departure from her previous releases. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who called it a return to form for Marina. It was also described as romantic, poetic, and dreamy. Commercially, the song did not enter the Official Singles Chart in the United Kingdom, but reached the download component chart where it peaked at number 52. It also charted in Scotland and appeared on the official digital charts in France, Greece, and New Zealand.
Two accompanying music videos for "Handmade Heaven" were produced and both released in February 2019. The first one was directed by English director Sophie Muller and filmed in Estonia. It depicts Marina exploring a large forest during the winter. A separate vertical video, featuring different footage from the shoot, was released later in the month. "Handmade Heaven" was included on the setlist of her fourth concert tour, the Love + Fear Tour (2019), and used as the show's opener. A live one-shot video filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic and featuring Marina performing the song on piano was released in May 2020.
Background and release
To mark the beginning of a new era in her career, Marina stated via Twitter in 2018 that she would be dropping "and the Diamonds" from her stage name in order to release music as just Marina (stylised in all caps). She explained that, "It took me well over a year to figure out that a lot of my identity was tied up in who I was as an artist... and there wasn't much left of who I was." After the announcement, Marina released "Baby" with Clean Bandit, her first single under her new name. Towards the beginning of 2019, "Handmade Heaven" was formally announced to the public. It served as the lead single to her then-upcoming fourth studio album and is her first solo release since "Blue", the fifth and final single from her third album, Froot, in 2015.
On 14 February 2019, Marina announced Love + Fear, her fourth studio album and first under her new moniker. The track listing was unveiled the same day, revealing "Handmade Heaven" as the opening track on the album. Love + Fear serves as a double album that is composed of two segments, with each one exploring psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' theory that humans are only capable of experiencing the aforementioned two emotions. "Handmade Heaven" appears on the Love portion of the album, devoted to lyrics detailing positive thoughts and emotions, because it was described as a song about finding one's freedom. The song was solely written by Marina and produced by New Zealand musician Joel Little. She recorded her vocals for the track at Little's Golden Age recording studios in Los Angeles. The song was mixed by Dan Greece-Marguerat at Solar Management Limited in London, and engineered by Little. Mastering of the track was handled by Dave Kutch at The Mastering Palace in New York City.
"Handmade Heaven" was released for digital download and streaming in various countries on 8 February 2019 through Atlantic Records. It served as the lead single to Love + Fear and her first new solo release since 2015. A promotional CD single, intended for radio airplay, was distributed throughout the Benelux region of Europe in 2017 by Atlantic Records and the Warner Music Group. Atlantic also distributed a promotional CD of the single across Finland. On 8 March 2019, two versions of a remix produced by Irish DJ Krystal Klear were released to digital music retailers and streaming services. The original remix has a running time of 6 minutes and 57 seconds and was exclusive to Apple Music. For the remix's distribution on Spotify in the United States, a condensed version of the remix lasting 4 minutes and 10 seconds was released instead. The longer version was used in an audio video for the remix that was uploaded to Marina's YouTube account on 11 March 2019.