Preview of Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott in the Shropshire Star on 28 November 2014

Heaton & Abbott reunite for sold out tour

When the former singer of the Housemartins and the Beautiful South bought the lease on the Kings Arms in Salford three years ago, it was something of a vocation for him, having completed two tours of British pubs by bicycle in the last four years aimed at raising the profile of the traditional boozer.

Heaton’s 800-mile Pedals and Beer Pumps trek took in the Horseshoe pub in Ratlinghope, while the 50/50 tour, his 2,500-mile slog to all corners of the British Isles in 2012 to celebrate turning 50, called in at Welshpool. Heaton’s latest tour—employing more conventional transport this time—sees him musically reunited with one-time Beautiful South singer, Jacqui Abbott.

Heaton and Abbott’s album, What Have We Become, released in May, is a collection of catchy numbers, with thought-provoking lyrics infused with not a little humour, and Abbott’s vocals are as good as they ever were on Beautiful South tunes like “Rotterdam (Or Anywhere),” “Don’t Marry Her” or “Perfect Ten,” especially on the single taken from the album, “D.I.Y.”

Abbott’s singing career with Heaton goes back 20 years, when she replaced the Beautiful South’s first female vocalist, Briana Corrigan, for the album Miaow. Abbott’s spell as vocalist coincided with the group’s most successful period. Blue Is The Colour and Quench both hit top spot in the UK album chart, and stadium shows attracted large crowds to Crystal Palace and Huddersfield in 1997.

Following the release of Painting It Red in 2000, Abbott left the band to care for her son, who had been diagnosed with autism, but more than a decade later, the St. Helens native hooked up with Heaton again on his concept album based on the Deadly Sins, The 8th, as she told Nick Hasted in an interview for The Independent newspaper earlier this year.

“The first time I saw him again was outside the King’s Arms, and it had been 10 and a half years. We were both really nervous. The minute we did The 8th, I really lamented how much I’d missed singing and performing and being around everybody. I didn’t realise until I did it again. I felt sad, really, because I thought, ‘Why did I leave it so long?’ But it was the best thing for my son at the time.

“Then Paul said, ‘What do you think about doing another album together?’ I was doing other things—volunteering—and I’d just started as a teaching assistant, but I thought it’d be great,” she said.

Heaton welcomed the reunion with his former singing partner, as he explained on the new album’s website, www.whathavewebecome.net.

"I always wrote songs with Jacqui in mind. When I first heard her sing, I almost laughed because it was so right for the songs," adding that there was a feeling of inevitability about linking up with Abbott.

"Working with Jacqui again was like going into your garage and discovering a beautiful covered up Rolls Royce that hadn't been started in years. Jacqui is one of the best singers I've worked with and is also part of my past. It was only a matter of time before I asked her,” he said.

And if What Have We Become is a sign of things to come, quite a few music fans will be hoping that the sound of any time bells being rung are confined to the public bar of the Kings Arms.

Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott at the Civic Hall, Wolverhampton (28 November). See www.wolvescivic.co.uk for details