Credits:

Paul Heaton

Description:

The Mighty Several keeps Paul Heatons ten-year streak of tuneful, duet-minded albums alive, a streak that has been defined by lighthearted style adaptation (especially early rock & roll) and incisive social commentary that glides between the biting, the heartfelt, and the playful. A notable difference here, however, is that after five straight albums with Jacqui Abbott, including the U.K. chart-toppers Manchester Calling (2020) and N.K.-Pop (2022), health issues that forced Abbott to withdraw from live appearances in the interim also prevented her from participating here. Credited solely to Heaton, The Mighty Several is essentially another genre-sampling Heaton-Abbott outing except for the conspicuous fact that Glaswegian singer/songwriter (and tour sub) Rianne Downey stands in for Abbott. Additional singers include Yvonne Shelton (on the cant-count-on-love ballad “Silly Me,” a duet with Downey)