PAUL HEATON & JACQUI ABBOTT
MANCHESTER CALLING
VIRGIN EMI
★★★★
MIDDLE-AGED KITCHEN SINK DRAMAS ABOUND ON THE DUO’S LATEST, WHICH AFFECTIONATELY BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO THE NEGLECTED ART OF THE DUET
No one writes like Paul Heaton. He spurns fashion, zooms in on dreary minutiae, trades in genres as varied as they’re unstylish – Manchester Calling hints at Broadway musicals and English limericks – and few protagonists emerge unscarred. But his plainspoken sincerity, tempered with a wry, compassionate wit, ensure that his songs speak to the heart, whatever their form, whomsoever they address.