Jenius Black 2LP + White 2LP

Ask Paul Heaton how many songs hes written and hell tell you hes not really sure. Perhaps thats unsurprising this summer its 40 years since The Housemartins released their debut album, Hull 0 London 4, peaking at number 3 in Britain. Subsequently, hes released, in various configurations with The Housemartins and The Beautiful South, solo and with Jacqui Abbot, not to mention as Biscuit Boy another 21 studio albums, plenty going gold, some multiplatinum, as theyve risen to the charts highest reaches. For each, moreover, hell have written many many more songs than hell ever include.Now, less than two years since The Mighty Several 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. I039ve had stuff coming in and out of my brain since I was 17 or 18, he laughs, but Im surprised the tunes keep popping into my head. You039ve got to get it out of your system, though. Writers block just sounds madeup. You don039t get plumber039s block. If your toilet039s full of shit, you don039t think, Do you know what I can039t get my head around this. You either call a plumber or do it yourself. That039s how I see it with songs. Don039t leave it in there. Just get it out. Even if it039s shit.To observers of the Manchesterdwelling songwriter, such selfeffacement will be familiar. Few artists are as modest, a spirit Heaton carries over into his lifestyle, whether taking the tram to the studio whens it raining or touring England by bike in 2010 and the whole UK two years later. I039ve just tried to be myself, he says, humble once more, because I039m not a rotten person. I don039t think most people are. Hes also uncommonly willing to share his microphone, letting others make his songs their own. This time, Rianne Downey picks up where she left off on The Mighty Several having first covered for an ailing Jacqui Abbott on tour in 2020 after Heaton discovered her on social media while Irelands Declan ORourke brings out her Dolly Parton side on rambunctious country bacchanal, The Whisky Did.Jenius, Heatons new albums 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, theres nothing bashful about these songs, something reflected in the LPs cover, the first to feature a photo of Heaton since the Housemartins debut album. Indeed, Jenius 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 I039ve been successful.Such diversity isnt restricted to his lyrics. Kicking off with Cant Get Next To Yous rowdy threechord rush and rounding things up with A Son A Fathers extravagant but barbed glam rock, Jenius 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 Nancy amp Lees, yet, on the likes of the fragile Jet Back Sky and bittersweet Send In The Clowns, he explores what he considers more atmospheric territory than ever before.All of this is shot through with his quintessential blend of empathy, wit and contempt. His protagonists pine for the elusive Cant Get Next To You and revel in flaws My Favourite Kind Of Idiot. They find the best in their circumstances She Aint Pretty or find themselves written out of history Do Not Ask Me. They commit to romance I Want The Job, watch it screwed up or binned Sad Songs And Lawsuits, or concede that its not for them Good For The Bees. They rail at racists One Eye Open and berate buffoons Send In The Clowns, get pissed Dont Lean On Me, and if at times they extol the benefits of maintaining good humour Go Upstream, at others they spotlight uncomfortable truths, like the insanity of humanitys impatience Before Before. Indeed, there arent many charttopping songwriters who can pack a punch with Heatons prowess, as when he crowns A Son A Fathers belting eulogy with ... Husband and a cunt.Jenius would be a remarkable album at any time, even more for a man who turned 64 this spring. But its still more remarkable because it sounds like it was a joy to make but was recorded as his tenyear marriage ended. There is, however, no point seeking clues to this development in its songs because they were begun in the months following The Mighty Several 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 Jonny Lexus. Having worked with Heaton since 2010s Acid Country, this time he earned eight cowriting credits as well as helping arrange other tracks. It039s nice writing