''N.K-Pop'' (also written ''N.K. Pop'') is the fifth studio album by Paul Heaton and

Jacqui Abbott Jacqueline Abbott (born 10 November 1973) is an English singer who was a vocalist with the band The Beautiful South from 1994 to 2000, following the departure of Briana Corrigan. With Abbott, the band released several Top 10 singles. Amongst t ...

, both formerly members of the Beautiful South. The album was released on 7 October 2022 by

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

, and preceded by the release of the lead single "Still". The album debuted atop the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Background

The songs were all written in various pubs and "drinking hostelries". The album's title is "a typical Heaton joke, a sly crack at the overproduced super-slick youth-centric flashiness of fashionable

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

", with Heaton's "humorously grouchy conceit" being "to ally himself with its exact opposite". Heaton has said, "We're K-pop if you're on the wrong side of the border."

Critical reception

On review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the album received a score of 81 out of 100 based on five critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". John Murphy of ''

musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

'' found that "While much of ''N.K. Pop'' is firmly in the tradition of radio-friendly pop, it's the lyrics that give these songs their extra dimension", concluding that "There are songs on ''N.K. Pop'' that stand squarely alongside some of Heaton's best" and that the "famous fire of his shows no sign of being extinguished". Reviewing the album for ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'', Terry Staunton opined that there is "wry humour throughout" the album and that "Heaton remains the go-to chronicler of the Everyman condition" with Abbott providing "a vital contribution as both equal-billing foil and relatable conduit of female perspectives in these songs".

Neil McCormick Neil McCormick (born 31 March 1961) is a British music journalist, author and broadcaster. He has been Chief Music Critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' since 1996, and presented a music interview show for Vintage TV in the UK, Neil McCormick's Nee ...

of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' wrote that Heaton is "back ..threading barbed wired lyrics through rose garden melodies to catch listeners unaware". McCormick felt that while Heaton and "Abbott "harmonise delightfully" on the album, with Abbott "effectively sound nglike a female version of the frontman", he "wish d Heatonwould push himself a little harder" as "there are a few too many songs on ''N.K-Pop'' that are just witticisms, wordplay and easy on the ear melodies, bashed down in the studio with a certain vigour but no real imagination."

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the

on 14 October 2022, becoming Heaton and Abbott's second number-one album after their previous record together, ''

Manchester Calling ''Manchester Calling'' is the fourth studio album by Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott, both formerly members of the Beautiful South. The album was released on 6 March 2020 by Virgin EMI. Heaton wrote the songs in various locations in North Holland a ...

'' (2020). It is the fifth UK number-one album for both overall, including their three number-one albums as part of the Beautiful South.

Track listing

Songs written by Paul Heaton and Jonny Lexus, except tracks 3, 4, 8 and 12 by Paul Heaton

Charts

References

{{Jacqui Abbott 2022 albums Albums produced by John Owen Williams (record producer) EMI Records albums Jacqui Abbott albums Paul Heaton albums Pub rock (United Kingdom) albums