To celebrate the release of their new album ‘Crooked Calypso’, Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott will perform live acoustic sets, meet fans and sign copies of the album at hmv Manchester on 24th July.
Kicking off at 5.30pm, the exclusive in-store will give fans the chance to meet Paul and Jacqui and hear tracks from their highly anticipated third album just days after its release, in an intimate hmv setting.
‘Crooked Calypso’ boasts all the hallmarks of Heaton’s peerless songwriting: songs buoyant with melody, and redolent with biting wit, but also real emotion. Opening track ‘I Gotta Praise’, a euphoric secular Gospel anthem, raises the roof and opens the record in style. ‘The Lord Is A White Con’, meanwhile, considers religion as an exploitative tool of empire builders, while ‘She Got The Garden’ is the wittiest divorce song since ‘D-I-V-O-R-C-E’. And then there is ‘Blackwater Banks’, a gorgeous Irish waltz that the Dubliners would be proud to call their own.
Says Paul: “This album was good fun to write. The whole process of songwriting for me has become easier, more enjoyable. I used to go away to write songs, and put myself in a deliberate rut in pursuit of melancholy. I don’t do that anymore.
I suppose it’s been a good few years for me. There’s a sense that people are happy to see us again. That’s made me more confident, and I suppose you can see that in the writing.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still grumpy, but I’m content in my grumpiness now. I’m no longer frothing at the mouth.”
Says Jacqui: “Singing was something I was never going to do with my life. I just sort of fell into it, an accident, the result of me being in the right place at the right time. But I’ve always loved singing Paul’s songs, and I love them even more now. I’m biased, of course, but he’s just becoming better and better. It’s an honour to sing alongside him.”
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott will appear at:
Monday 24 July 5:30pm – hmv Manchester Arndale Centre, M4 2HU
Access to the live performance will be restricted to the first 250 fans to pre-order Crooked Calypso in person from the store hosting the event. This pre-order will also grant access to the signing afterwards. Fans must visit the Manchester Arndale store to place their pre-order if you wish to attend the performance.
