N.K Pop

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I didn’t want to make it particularly about any stage in the birth or after – or even an infant, I just wanted to write about loss.” There’s laugh-out-loud moments and sometimes rage in the 12 songs here, with some oblique references to shamed ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson (“a clown on the box for which I did not vote”) and to some of the more splenetic tabloids and self-serving politicos (“​​Burn the Express and the Mail/ The key to real democracy/ Throw the Eton mob in jail”).

Well, we gave the label the LP and said we think this, this and this could be a single,” he explains. “I preferred I Drove Her Away With My Tears because it’s quite immediate and it’s always sounded good in my head. But also When The World Would Actually Listen. It’s a kind of handicap race.” After Jacqui thanked the crowd for coming down and withstanding the rain, it was apt that the band finished their set with 'Good as Gold (Stupid as Mud)' as tens of thousands chanted they will "carry on regardless". Abbott proves why she’s such a good counterpoint to Heaton – her voice perfectly meshes with him, and duets like You’re Too Much For One (Not Enough For Two) demonstrate their musical chemistry perfectly. Who Built The Pyramids is another highlight for Abbot, a big duet about unlikely romances. Baby It’s Cold Inside may derive its title from the rather problematic Christmas song from the 1940s but is actually an incisive takedown of sexual predators and serial harassers.

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But they realise that and so they’re going for a rowdier and more populist view to pull more people in. What they’re doing, though, is pulling less people in, but making them angrier. Paul Heaton sits comfortably in a roll call of literate pop writers to emerge in the 80s, alongside such articulate wordsmiths as Lloyd Cole, Roddy Frame and Paddy McAloon. What sets him apart from those contemporaries is prolonged commercial success: a remarkable run of 16 albums to make the Top 10, with The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and, since 2014, in tandem with Jacqui Abbott. I have an ageing-related question regarding Perfect 10 . You sang you love “her body, especially the lines”. How do you feel about getting older? DaddyPig

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 The night was a special occasion for Jacqui, who had never played in her hometown before (Pic: Dave Gillespie) We took some chairs outside and boozed,” he laughs. “I fell over and managed to get myself a new scar on my head.” Heaton I was pretty mouthy when I was younger. I don’t think it’s going to happen in my lifetime. As we can see from the current climate, we’re groomed for serfdom. For two years, people like GB News have told us we’ve been brainwashed about masks, but we’re now gleefully falling for a much bigger brainwashing scam. It’s highly amusing, but not so amusing when you’ve got a record on the playlist and now they won’t play it [after the Queen’s death] because it’s too uptempo!

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While some of the songs slip into genericity, such as the forgettable There’s a First Time For Everything, others are 80s-inspired, synth-led earworms. Smells Like Me stands out as one of the album’s highlights, a masterclass in pop writing with an ultra-memorable hook. The opener That’s Hilarious serves an early reminder of just how good Puth is at writing ridiculously catchy hooks; how simple-but-effective his melodies are. I once saw the Beautiful South support Pere Ubu on Morecambe Bay. Any chance of playing live on sand again? LeeBirch Well, it's the first time I've been given any award for songwriting at all. My first words when I got up to accept it were ‘I could have died, it's so late!’ And it's sort of true – I'd just turned 60 – so it meant a lot and it was really nice to experience it with the people I'm close to. In my Beautiful South days I would probably have just taken it in with a pinch of salt and said, ‘Thanks a lot, ta,’ and walked off, so I'm glad they waited because I appreciated it more. Same as having a No.1 whenever it was, 2020? That felt special as well.” I do think those newspapers are on their way out,” the self-declared socialist tells us, referring to the unblushingly political Sunny Side Up.