Ivan the Tolerable

A record made for the ones we lost. Oli Heffernan returns with his fourth album for Riot Season - an expansive double LP that carries with it a deep personal history and years of unfinished business.

The earliest sessions date back to 2018 at the IDI in Middlesbrough, engineered by longtime collaborator Nigel Crooks over the course of three weekends. Then life happened. The material was shelved, left to gather dust for reasons that accumulated and compounded. When Crooks passed away in 2023, completing this record became a mission. "I finished this record for Nigel, above all else," says Heffernan. "It always annoyed him that it never got done."

To bring Chromophobia to completion, the original stems were passed to producer Hugh Major (formerly of Benefits) in early 2024. The result is a document of persistence, creative overhaul, and the enduring impact of a lost collaborator. This is music that has lived, that has waited, that demanded to exist.

Following Water Music and Vertigo (both 2024) and An Orphan Form (2025), Heffernan continues his remarkable run on Riot Season - a label that understands the importance of creative music done right. Two slabs of vinyl. Years in the making. A tribute and a reinvention all at once.