{"product_id":"paul-heaton-jenius","title":"Paul Heaton - Jenius","description":"\u003cp data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"624\"\u003eAsk \u003cstrong data-start=\"4\" data-end=\"19\"\u003ePaul Heaton\u003c\/strong\u003e how many songs he’s written and he’ll tell you he’s not really sure. Perhaps that’s unsurprising: this summer it’s 40 years since \u003cstrong data-start=\"150\" data-end=\"170\"\u003eThe Housemartins\u003c\/strong\u003e released their debut album, \u003cem data-start=\"199\" data-end=\"218\"\u003eHull: 0 London: 4\u003c\/em\u003e, peaking at number 3 in Britain. Subsequently, he’s released, in various configurations – with The Housemartins and \u003cstrong data-start=\"335\" data-end=\"358\"\u003eThe Beautiful South\u003c\/strong\u003e, solo and with \u003cstrong data-start=\"374\" data-end=\"390\"\u003eJacqui Abbot\u003c\/strong\u003e, not to mention as Biscuit Boy –another 21 studio albums, plenty going gold, some multi-platinum, as they’ve risen to the charts’ highest reaches. For each, moreover, he’ll have written many many more songs than he’ll ever include.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"626\" data-end=\"1309\"\u003eNow, less than two years since \u003cem data-start=\"657\" data-end=\"677\"\u003eThe Mighty Several\u003c\/em\u003e – itself his sixth album to go Top 5 in a dozen years – this prolific, poetic observer of human nature is back with another fifteen gems. “I've had stuff coming in and out of my brain since I was 17 or 18,” he laughs, “but I’m surprised the tunes keep popping into my head. You've got to get it out of your system, though. Writer’s block just sounds made-up. You don't get plumber's block. If your toilet's full of shit, you don't think, ‘Do you know what? I can't get my head around this.’ You either call a plumber or do it yourself. That's how I see it with songs. Don't leave it in there. Just get it out. Even if it's shit.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"1311\" data-end=\"2146\"\u003eTo observers of the Manchester-dwelling songwriter, such self-effacement will be familiar. Few artists are as modest, a spirit Heaton carries over into his lifestyle, whether taking the tram to the studio when’s it raining or touring England by bike in 2010 (and the whole UK two years later.) “I've just tried to be myself,” he says, humble once more, “because I'm not a rotten person. I don't think most people are.” He’s also uncommonly willing to share his microphone, letting others make his songs their own. This time, \u003cstrong data-start=\"1836\" data-end=\"1853\"\u003eRianne Downey\u003c\/strong\u003e picks up where she left off on \u003cem data-start=\"1885\" data-end=\"1905\"\u003eThe Mighty Several\u003c\/em\u003e – having first covered for an ailing Jacqui Abbott on tour in 2020 after Heaton discovered her on social media – while Ireland’s \u003cstrong data-start=\"2035\" data-end=\"2054\"\u003eDeclan O’Rourke\u003c\/strong\u003e brings out her \u003cstrong data-start=\"2070\" data-end=\"2086\"\u003eDolly Parton\u003c\/strong\u003e side on rambunctious country bacchanal, \u003cem data-start=\"2127\" data-end=\"2143\"\u003eThe Whisky Did\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2148\" data-end=\"2986\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"2148\" data-end=\"2156\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e, Heaton’s new album’s title, is a symptom of this unassuming style. “If anybody ever calls me a genius,” he explains, “I always say, ‘What?! With a J?!’ The spelling would obviously be wrong.” Fortunately, there’s nothing bashful about these songs, something reflected in the LP’s cover, the first to feature a photo of Heaton since the Housemartin’s debut album. Indeed, \u003cem data-start=\"2529\" data-end=\"2537\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e betrays the truth of his talents, and its songs – of love and loneliness, pubs and booze, community and counsel, a nod to football, the state of the nation, and the overall wisdom of kindness – are distinguished by his notably tender voice, his enchanting melodies and a meticulous, effortless craft. “If I can get a variety of people of all sorts of backgrounds to say, ‘Oh, that could be about me or you,’” he says, “then I've been successful”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"2988\" data-end=\"3527\"\u003eSuch diversity isn’t restricted to his lyrics. Kicking off with \u003cem data-start=\"3052\" data-end=\"3075\"\u003eCan’t Get Next To You\u003c\/em\u003e’s rowdy three-chord rush and rounding things up with \u003cem data-start=\"3129\" data-end=\"3145\"\u003eA Son A Father\u003c\/em\u003e’s extravagant but barbed glam rock, \u003cem data-start=\"3182\" data-end=\"3190\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e dips its toes assuredly into rock ‘n’ roll, country, soul and ska, blues, Yacht Rock, even Latin terrain. Again, his duets are as charming and loaded as \u003cstrong data-start=\"3344\" data-end=\"3359\"\u003eNancy \u0026amp; Lee\u003c\/strong\u003e’s, yet, on the likes of the fragile \u003cem data-start=\"3396\" data-end=\"3410\"\u003eJet Back Sky\u003c\/em\u003e and bittersweet \u003cem data-start=\"3427\" data-end=\"3447\"\u003eSend In The Clowns\u003c\/em\u003e, he explores what he considers more “atmospheric” territory than ever before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"3529\" data-end=\"4504\"\u003eAll of this is shot through with his quintessential blend of empathy, wit and contempt. His protagonists pine for the elusive (\u003cem data-start=\"3656\" data-end=\"3679\"\u003eCan’t Get Next To You\u003c\/em\u003e) and revel in flaws (\u003cem data-start=\"3701\" data-end=\"3729\"\u003eMy Favourite Kind Of Idiot\u003c\/em\u003e). They find the best in their circumstances (\u003cem data-start=\"3775\" data-end=\"3793\"\u003eShe Ain’t Pretty\u003c\/em\u003e) or find themselves written out of history (\u003cem data-start=\"3838\" data-end=\"3853\"\u003eDo Not Ask Me\u003c\/em\u003e). They commit to romance (\u003cem data-start=\"3880\" data-end=\"3896\"\u003eI Want The Job\u003c\/em\u003e), watch it “screwed up or binned” (\u003cem data-start=\"3932\" data-end=\"3956\"\u003eSad Songs And Lawsuits\u003c\/em\u003e), or concede that it’s not for them (\u003cem data-start=\"3994\" data-end=\"4013\"\u003eGood For The Bees\u003c\/em\u003e). They rail at racists (\u003cem data-start=\"4038\" data-end=\"4052\"\u003eOne Eye Open\u003c\/em\u003e) and berate buffoons (\u003cem data-start=\"4075\" data-end=\"4095\"\u003eSend In The Clowns\u003c\/em\u003e), get pissed (\u003cem data-start=\"4110\" data-end=\"4128\"\u003eDon’t Lean On Me\u003c\/em\u003e), and if at times they extol the benefits of maintaining good humour (\u003cem data-start=\"4199\" data-end=\"4212\"\u003eGo Upstream\u003c\/em\u003e), at others they spotlight uncomfortable truths, like the insanity of humanity’s impatience (\u003cem data-start=\"4306\" data-end=\"4321\"\u003eBefore Before\u003c\/em\u003e). Indeed, there aren’t many chart-topping songwriters who can pack a punch with Heaton’s prowess, as when he crowns \u003cem data-start=\"4438\" data-end=\"4454\"\u003eA Son A Father\u003c\/em\u003e’s belting eulogy with “... Husband and a cunt.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"4506\" data-end=\"5282\"\u003e\u003cem data-start=\"4506\" data-end=\"4514\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e would be a remarkable album at any time, even more for a man who turned 64 this spring. But it’s still more remarkable because it sounds like it was a joy to make but was recorded as his ten-year marriage ended. There is, however, no point seeking clues to this development in its songs because they were begun in the months following \u003cem data-start=\"4850\" data-end=\"4870\"\u003eThe Mighty Several\u003c\/em\u003e and penned, like so many before them, during cycling breaks in Holland. They were finished there, too, in a village north of Amsterdam, with guitarist \u003cstrong data-start=\"5022\" data-end=\"5037\"\u003eJonny Lexus\u003c\/strong\u003e. Having worked with Heaton since 2010’s \u003cem data-start=\"5078\" data-end=\"5092\"\u003eAcid Country\u003c\/em\u003e, this time he earned eight co-writing credits as well as helping arrange other tracks. “It's nice writing songs by yourself,” Heaton says. “…but it's really nice writing them with Jonny.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"5284\" data-end=\"6374\"\u003eLike 2022’s \u003cem data-start=\"5296\" data-end=\"5306\"\u003eN.K. Pop\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem data-start=\"5308\" data-end=\"5316\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e was recorded in early 2026 at Manchester’s Blueprint Studios with a loyal coterie of associates. Bassist \u003cstrong data-start=\"5422\" data-end=\"5436\"\u003eChris Wise\u003c\/strong\u003e, who’s done a dozen years in Paul’s band and drummer \u003cstrong data-start=\"5490\" data-end=\"5507\"\u003ePete Marshall\u003c\/strong\u003e, a cool 17 years, returned again, though duties with \u003cstrong data-start=\"5561\" data-end=\"5572\"\u003eSqueeze\u003c\/strong\u003e meant keyboardist \u003cstrong data-start=\"5591\" data-end=\"5608\"\u003eStephen Large\u003c\/strong\u003e was replaced by \u003cstrong data-start=\"5625\" data-end=\"5641\"\u003eToby Chapman\u003c\/strong\u003e. (“They all told him, ‘Just do the opposite of what you'd expect the song would need, and Paul would probably like that.’”) It was also produced, like \u003cem data-start=\"5793\" data-end=\"5813\"\u003eThe Mighty Several\u003c\/em\u003e, by the legendary \u003cstrong data-start=\"5832\" data-end=\"5847\"\u003eIan Broudie\u003c\/strong\u003e. “Everybody in the band said he's the best who's worked on their instrument, and I could hear the difference,” Heaton says. “I think the production's probably even better this time because I've trusted him even more. I'm not technically musical, but he understands where I want to get to and he's given me shortcuts. I remember with The Housemartins I said something sounded ‘too milky’ and they're like, ‘What do you mean, ‘milky’?!’ It’s really nice to have somebody who translates that. He's like me, but with knowledge!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"6376\" data-end=\"7241\"\u003eThis December marks forty years since Heaton’s first number one, The Housemartins’ cover of the \u003cstrong data-start=\"6472\" data-end=\"6494\"\u003eIsley Jasper Isley\u003c\/strong\u003e song \u003cem data-start=\"6500\" data-end=\"6517\"\u003eCaravan Of Love\u003c\/em\u003e. That said, despite the many hits he’s had – from exuberant anthems like \u003cem data-start=\"6591\" data-end=\"6603\"\u003eHappy Hour\u003c\/em\u003e to poignant portraits like \u003cem data-start=\"6631\" data-end=\"6653\"\u003eOld Red Eyes Is Back\u003c\/em\u003e, from platinum singles like \u003cem data-start=\"6682\" data-end=\"6707\"\u003eRotterdam (Or Anywhere)\u003c\/em\u003e to number one albums like \u003cem data-start=\"6734\" data-end=\"6754\"\u003eManchester Calling\u003c\/em\u003e – \u003cem data-start=\"6757\" data-end=\"6765\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e feels like a real achievement. “I’m particularly proud I've done this record at all,” he admits. “I didn't want the band to see what was going on in my private life, but going into a studio and seeing your friends and people who love you was a break from what was happening. Normally I write happy tunes when I'm skipping to the shops, but I've not been out and about much, whistling. I don't know why it sounds like fun, but, yeah, it is, and I'm glad it sounds like fun.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7243\" data-end=\"7864\"\u003eUltimately, Heaton estimates he’s now written some four or five hundred songs. In so doing, he’s established – though he’s too self-deprecating to state this himself – his own distinctive, if unconventional brand of quasi-English folk. Moreover, these singular classics not only keep coming but somehow keep getting better. “Even though I treat it like a job,” he concludes, “it never feels like a job. When I go into writing mode, I take it seriously, even if I'm having a drink. I feel proud of the person I am when I'm writing. I’m really in the zone, as they say. Then I ruin it in moments of silliness afterwards!”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-start=\"7866\" data-end=\"7943\"\u003eSilly or serious, poignant or pointed, therein lies Paul Heaton’s \u003cem data-start=\"7932\" data-end=\"7940\"\u003eJenius\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"EMI","offers":[{"title":"Indies Exclusive White Vinyl 2LP","offer_id":58158461550937,"sku":"SDZ-46521","price":37.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black Vinyl 2LP","offer_id":58158461583705,"sku":"SDZ-46522","price":34.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":58158461616473,"sku":"SDZ-46523","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0588\/3455\/0945\/files\/UNI_20260528_0800_070301_566_v_0600574204554_002.jpg?v=1779959141","url":"https:\/\/spindizzyrecords.com\/products\/paul-heaton-jenius","provider":"Spindizzy Dublin","version":"1.0","type":"link"}