The Mighty Several

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) and the gruff-voiced Danny Muldoon, who is featured on the sea shanty "Small Boats" and takes center stage on the bobby soxer slow dance "Pull Up a Seat." (Heaton, Downey, Shelton, and Muldoon are all featured on the albums cover photo.) The record was produced by the Lightning Seeds Ian Broudie. Not one to mince words, Heaton and friends kick things off with the jaunty "National Treasure," a song whose opening bouncy piano line is accompanied by the first phrase "Our country drags heels." After the rest of the band, which includes bluesy electric guitar as well as dramatic strings, joins in alongside Downeys backing harmonies, the clap-along ditty goes on to offer uniting sentiments like "Hes driving a bus/Hes just one of us/Hes them, shes you, and hes me." Elsewhere, "After the Sugar Rush" is all about love, and "Fish ‘N’ Chip Supper" (with its echoes of the Turtles "Happy Together" in the chorus) concerns long-term relationship patterns and how "were all…clingin onto dear life." Similarly, rockabilly entry "Just Another Family" turns the spotlight on family disfunction. The melancholy closer "Walk On, Slow Down" lands closer to sophisti-pop stylistically as it leaves listeners on a more earnest note of advice. While fans are bound to miss Abbott, Heatons still got more to say, and his crew is in fine form. ~ Marcy Donelson