''Crooked Calypso'' is the third studio album by

Paul Heaton Paul David Heaton (born 9 May 1962) is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of the Housemartins, who had commercial success in the UK and other European countries between 1985 and 1988, releasing several singl ...

and

Jacqui Abbott Jacqueline Abbott (born 10 November 1973) is an English singer who was a vocalist with The Beautiful South from 1994 to 2000, following the departure of Briana Corrigan. With Abbott, the band released several top-10 singles. Amongst their mos ...

, both formerly members of

the Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Kingston upon Hull, Hull group the Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members stayin ...

. The album was released in the UK on 21 July 2017 by

Virgin EMI Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

. When writing the lyrics for the album, Heaton again retreated to the Netherlands, while the music was written in

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

together with guitarist Jonny Lexus. The photography for the album was by

Sean Welch Sean Welch (born 12 April 1965, Enfield, England) was the bassist for The Beautiful South and previously roadie for The Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and cha ...

, the bassist for The Beautiful South. A deluxe edition was also available upon the album's release, which included a DVD of a live performance recorded at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on 5 August 2016.

Reception

''Crooked Calypso'' attracted mainly positive reviews upon release. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Rachel Aroesti comments how Heaton delivers "observations about British society's ironies and inequalities" with "gusto, his droll lyricism drilling into subject matter from obesity... and the cavernous divide between rich and poor... over a backing of the kind of jaunty pop that can take in folk, disco and blues without ever breaking its buoyant stride." In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Timothy Monger wrote, "There's something refreshingly organic about their big productions, which layer strings and horns over a whip-tight rock combo that sways nimbly between Motown, R&B, and old-fashioned rock & roll within the breadth of just a few notes."

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Albums produced by John Owen Williams (record producer) Jacqui Abbott albums Paul Heaton albums