Jenius

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. “I've had stuff coming in and out of my brain since I was 17 or 18,” he laughs, “but I’m surprised the tunes keep popping into my head. You've got to get it out of your system, though. Writer’s block just sounds made-up. You don't get plumber's block. If your toilet's full of shit, you don't think, ‘Do you know what? I can't get my head around this.’ You either call a plumber or do it yourself. That's how I see it with songs. Don't leave it in there. Just get it out. Even if it's shit.”

To observers of the Manchester-dwelling songwriter, such self-effacement will be familiar. Few artists are as modest, a spirit Heaton carries over into his lifestyle, whether taking the tram to the studio when’s it raining or touring England by bike in 2010 (and the whole UK two years later.) “I've just tried to be myself,” he says, humble once more, “because I'm not a rotten person. I don't think most people are.” He’s 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 Ireland’s Declan O’Rourke brings out her Dolly Parton side on rambunctious country bacchanal, ‘The Whisky Did’.

Jenius, Heaton’s new album’s 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, there’s nothing bashful about these songs, something reflected in the LP’s cover, the first to feature a photo of Heaton since the Housemartin’s 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 I've been successful”.

Like 2022’s N.K. Pop, Jenius was recorded in early 2026 at Manchester’s Blueprint Studios with a loyal coterie of associates. Bassist Chris Wise, who’s done a dozen years in Paul’s band and drummer Pete Marshall, a cool 17 years, returned again, though duties with Squeeze meant keyboardist Stephen Large was replaced by Toby Chapman. (“They all told him, ‘Just do the opposite of what you'd expect the song would need, and Paul would probably like that.’”) It was also produced, like The Mighty Several, by the legendary Ian Broudie. “Everybody in the band said he's the best who's worked on their instrument, and I could hear the difference,” Heaton says. “I think the production's probably even better this time because I've trusted him even more. I'm not technically musical, but he understands where I want to get to and he's given me shortcuts. I remember with The Housemartins I said something sounded ‘too milky’ and they're like, ‘What do you mean, ‘milky’?!’ It’s really nice to have somebody who translates that. He's like me, but with knowledge!”

Silly or serious, poignant or pointed, therein lies Paul Heaton’s Jenius.

Released: August 2026
Cat: EMIVX2158
Label: EMI

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Tracklist

1.  Can’t Get Next To You
2.  Favourite Kind Of Idiot
3.  I Want The Job
4.  Sad Songs And Lawsuits
5.  She Ain’t Pretty
6.  One Eye Open
7.  Send In The Clowns
8.  Do Not Ask Me
9.  Don’t Lean On Me
10. Jet Black Sky
11. The Whisky Did
12. Before Before
13. Good For The Bees
14. Go Upstream
15. A Son A Father