N.K Pop

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Jacqui Abbott I’m not generally into remakes. When I heard there was going to be a Blade Runner 2 I thought: “Oh, my God.” When I joined the Beautiful South, we did Everybody’s Talkin’ but I was only 20 then. Now I’m older I’d think: “A Harry Nilsson song – what if I get it wrong?” Heaton At school everyone started drinking and smoking and I always said I’d wait till I was older. I’d write it all down: start smoking aged 28, take drugs aged 29, start driving at 55. All sorts of mad things. I smoked for 15 years then got bored of it, but gradually I had to scrap the list because I didn’t want to die. across 60 pubs, a grand apiece. It was a typically magnanimous move from one of pop’s premier good guys. Sometimes we don’t even record them but we start rehearsing them for the next album and realise, actually I can remember why I didn’t particularly like them. It might be an awkward key change into the chorus.

The production, courtesy of UK duo God Colony, is particularly great on Feel Alive, with the song’s sparkly synths towing the line between sugar trap and a casino-themed level on Sonic the Hedgehog. This beat inspires Flohio to wake up from a grief-driven slumber, as she tellingly pledges: “From the dead I have risen”. I meant it as a gesture of support,” Paul tells Classic Pop, “and a little thanks to people. I wanted to celebrate my birthday by sharing a bit of what I’ve received from them over the years.” Charlie Be Quiet brings the same comedy that has made Puth so endearing to his fans, giving himself a pep talk about coming on too strong: “You got to lower the noise a little bit now/ If she knows you're in love, she's gonna run away”. Throughout, his production is knowingly playful, too, from the light switch sound in Light Switch to the music panning from left to right speaker in Left and Right (Ft. Jung Kook of BTS). Smith, Carl (14 October 2022). "Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott secure second Number 1 album as a duo with N.K-Pop". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 15 October 2022. Not a lot, really, but there’s quite often one scene in my mind and it spreads from there. On this one, I had a really vivid image of a pub with a fireplace, and I fleshed it out by having a conversation with myself. I thought about what might have happened there, and the landlord running the place on his own after his wife has gone. Sometimes I think of a song as an unfinished crossword puzzle and it’s my job

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Heaton I still prefer to put it in songs or the odd humorous comment on stage. Social media is like Speakers’ Corner, everyone shouting at each other.

Heaton, now in his sixties, has reached the ‘respected elder statesman’ era of his career (Gareth Paisey of Los Campesinos! regularly cites The Beautiful South as his favourite band), but the barbs have become no blunter. While much of N.K. Pop is firmly in the tradition of radio-friendly pop, it’s the lyrics that give these songs their extra dimension.

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So, what’s the plan for 2032? Paul will be blowing out 70 candles then, but you feel that even that day will be celebrated with the giddy enthusiasm of someone turning 21. “Oh, I can’t tell you yet,” he teases, “but I’ve got a really good idea!” Songs on the duo’s fifth album mix storytelling with the personal and the political to confirm their musical chemistry You reunited with Jacqui Abbott on 2013’s What Have We Become? Did you expect to still be working together nearly 10 years later? The night was a special occasion for Jacqui, who had never played in her hometown before (Pic: Dave Gillespie) For the one-time Housemartin and former Beautiful Souther, milestones like this are something to be bear hugged.

Almost 30 years after meeting outside an old St Helens nightclub, it's hard to say their harmonies were anything short of perfect as they rattled off 'Song for Whoever', 'Rotterdam (Or Anywhere)', 'Don't Marry Her', and 'A Little Time'. Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott will release their fifth studio album ‘N.K-Pop’ on EMI on 30th September 2022. ‘N.K-Pop’ adds another clutch of deliciously barbed pop songs to Heaton’s Ivor award winning song collection. Paul & Jacqui’s previous album ‘Manchester Calling’ went straight to No 1 on its release in March ’20. Saying that it would be “great” for more UK artists to pay tribute to the NHS and honour them – just as Liam Gallagher and Manic Street Preachers did last year – Heaton then went on to claim that the Conservative Party’s efforts for privatisation would be better placed elsewhere.He’s owned a pub, The Kings Arms in Salford, and for his 50 th birthday underwent a pub tour, cycling 2,500 miles over 40 days. “I suppose it’s microcosm of society, isn’t it? A pub is a weird mix of characters that you wouldn’t get anywhere else. And people are quite frank in the pub. I like that.” Paul and Jacqui Abbott’s fifth album as a duo, N.K-Pop, was released on 7 October and, a s usual, it’s another immaculate collection of instant pop gems, 12 could-be, should-be singles as dazzling as anything from best-selling Beautiful South comp Carry On Up The Charts. But, as Heaton says, we should have had this album much earlier. a b c Murphy, John (4 October 2022). "Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott – N.K. Pop". musicOMH . Retrieved 12 October 2022. The relative anonymity suits him. “I’m more famous for my songs than I am facially. I probably could have walked into a few of those pubs and sat down and had a drink and wouldn’t have got noticed,” he says. “And that’s how I like it.” I was amazingly surprised, but I had dipped my toe in the water on The 8th, a musical I wrote about the seven deadly sins and [Abbott] sang a little bit on that. And when she sang live, the whole room lit up. Clearly, people had really missed and loved her voice, and that's still the case. They do like me – I do get paranoid that they only like Jacqui! But she's got a voice that connects with people.”