Tracklist

1. Can't Get Next to You
2. Favourite Kind of Idiot (feat. Rianne Downey)
3. I Want the Job (feat. Rianne Downey)
4. Sad Songs and Lawsuits
5. She Ain't Pretty (feat. Rianne Downey)
6. One Eye Open
7. Send in the Clowns
8. Do Not Ask Me (feat. Rianne Downey)
9. Don't Lean on Me (feat. Rianne Downey)
10. Jet Black Sky
11. The Whisky Did (feat. Rianne Downey & Declan O'Rourke)
12. Before Before (feat. Rianne Downey)
13. Good for the Bees
14. Go Upstream
15. A Son A Father

Thoughts

The BBC aired a ninety minute Paul Heaton special and some additional programming, so it should have been obvious that a new album was coming. And yet, it was still a surprise to me. A glorious one because I'm a big fan.

I have to be honest and admit that Rianne Downey is not a favourite, however. She's not really done anything wrong but it will always be Paul & Jacqui in my heart. I suspect Paul might feel the same as this is a solo album with Rianne scattered through it rather than a Paul & Rianne album.

As you come to expect with Paul, clever lyrics cover a variety of topics - love songs, commercialism, the state of the world. On Send in the Clowns: "Send in the clowns, think they're already here / Heard the honk of their horn, saw the bright orange hair."

The music varies as well, My Favourite Kind of Idiot is a foot-tapping ditty, Jet Black Sky a slow dreamy ballad. The album slows down in the final third but still has injections of pace, and the addition of a third voice - The Whisky Did features the deep gravelly tones of Declan O'Rourke.

This is the kind of album where you know what to expect, but still, it has plenty of unexpected moments. The album ending on a glam rock style takedown of a terrible person was a surprise. This is a journey you go on with Paul, and in this case Rianne, and it delivers. Top score for me and it's going straight into the top five of the year so far.

Rating: 5 / 5