Album Review: Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott – Wisdom, Laughter and Lines
2 min read
It was unfortunate for fans of The Beautiful South when the English pop/rock group broke up in 2007: but a fragment of the band’s memory lives on through former lead singers Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott. Last year the pair released their first album together What We Have Become, entering the charts at number three and charming the socks off anybody who listened. Now Heaton and Abbott are back for more with their latest LP, Wisdom, Laughter and Lines.
Listening to the album from beginning to end allows you to hear the strength of the duo’s musical bond: whether it’s the melodic fun they seem to be having in opening track (Man Is) The Biggest B*tch Of All or the more intensified Heatongrad. You’ll take in each breathtaking moment that you’ll have from ballads like Sundial In The Shade: you’ll ignore the timeframe of six minutes and thirty three seconds and enjoy every instant.
The youthfulness of both singers’ voices don’t indicate age: their vocal game is just as strong as back in the 90s. The pair try a sound that’s a little more earthy with The Horse And Groom with a steady beat and a prominent guitar line ripping through the backdrop. The folk/rocky Wives 1, 2, 3 is possibly one of the more addictive numbers on the album: but there’s something wonderful about the subtle closing track, You, The Mountain And Me.
Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott haven’t lost their touch. It may have been 10 years since they had last spoken before they rose from the ashes as a musical duo: but it’s like the pair had never separated from the stage or the studio. Wisdom, Laughter and Lines is a fun and insightful record, perfect for unwinding after a long day.
