''Manchester Calling'' is the fourth 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 on 6 March 2020 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 ...

. Heaton wrote the songs in various locations in

North Holland North Holland (, ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht (province), Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevola ...

and Belgium, and composed the music between a hotel in Puerto Rico,

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 ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, and in

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (, ; officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

, Germany. Heaton and Abbott were set to tour the UK in support of the album across April and May 2020, but this was postponed until later in the year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. They also performed several songs on '' The Late Late Show'' on 6 March.

Background

Heaton called the theme of the album "anti growth, anti greed, ndagainst the continuous tearing down of old buildings and sticking up soulless offices, and the disappearance of local accents on TV, along with the creeping spread of Americanese" in the United Kingdom, and more specifically

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. The cover of the album is a composite picture of two skyscrapers, one of which is the Beetham Tower, the location of the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.

Critical reception

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 ...

'', Dave Simpson called the songs "richly observed, gently acerbic vignettes about the vagaries of British life, delivered over a mix of steadily uptempo

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

". In a review for ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'', Fiona Shepherd felt that ''Manchester Calling'' is about Heaton disliking "what he sees in

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

Britain" as well as his "tribute to

The Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

's ''

London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by the English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. ...

'', broadly inspired by commercial expansion in the city he calls home", although Heaton also still writes about "the man on the street or in his home" with "wry lyrics in diverse, celebratory sonic settings".

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums Albums produced by John Owen Williams (record producer) Folk albums by British artists Jacqui Abbott albums Paul Heaton albums Ska albums by British artists Soul albums by British artists Virgin EMI Records albums