Paul Heaton talks ahead of his gig with Jacqui Abbott at Forest Live on Cannock Chase

The former Housemartins and Beautiful South singer seemed to have drifted from the nation’s radar as a run of solo albums failed to reach the same dizzy heights as records with his former bands.

However, since reuniting with former Beautiful South singer Jacqui Abbott with 2014’s What Have We Become?, Heaton has enjoyed a new lease of life.

The duo will line up tomorrow at Cannock Chase for Forest Live.

That album earned Paul and Jacqui a gold disc and glowing reviews and also led to a series of sell-out shows.

The follow-up, Wisdom, Laughter and Lines, was another hit and Paul said he’d felt honoured to renew his working relationship with Jacqui, having played together in The Beautiful South for six years from 1994-2000.

He says: “Jacqui is one of the best singers I’ve worked with and is also part of my past. That album came together easily because we work so well together. The album title Wisdom, Laughter and Lines derived from a line in one of the songs and it sort of summed up where I was in life.”

Jacqui was excited to be on the road again. “It’s just great to be singing again. We had such a good run together previously and it’s just a real pleasure to be working with him again and singing these fantastic songs.”

Last year, the duo resumed their partnership for their third collaborative record, Crooked Calypso. Paul retreated to the Netherlands to work on the album while the music was written in Gran Canaria together with guitarist Jonny Lexus. The photography for the album was by Sean Welch, the bassist for The Beautiful South.

Paul finds it necessary to go overseas when it’s time to write a record because there are fewer distractions.

“I’ve written the last 15 albums in Holland. I go to Amsterdam airport and I pick a different town and I go there to write. This time I went to Monnickendam and Volendam and I wrote all the lyrics there. It took about three weeks, so I did three trips there. Then I went to Gran Canaria and I think the last 20 albums have been written in Gran Canaria in the same resort. This time I actually couldn’t get the resort I like. I always go on a package holiday, we’ve been doing it since 1992, we always go there.”

The two destinations bring Paul luck and he sees no reason to change a winning formula.

“It’s like a lucky pen. Holland is a bit more changeable, I like to go to new places, though there is this one bar where I’ve written a lot of songs. Gran Canaria just works, every time Johnny arrives I always laugh because I think he’s expecting a beautiful beach and it’s not, it’s a proper British type resort. I like it because we can have a laugh and go to a few bars after we’ve written. It’s not the place of your dreams, but it does serve a purpose. It’s probably luck at this point that keeps me going back.

“I used to go to Holland in the winter and it’d be cold and I’d be by myself and you can work yourself in a melancholic state. I have this reputation for writing melancholic lyrics with happy melodies and the melodies are usually written in the sun in Gran Canaria with friends, so it’s a way of producing that.”

Though the album was written in Europe, Paul is quite happy staying in the UK when it comes to playing live. He no longer plans to tour either the USA or Europe.

“No. I don’t like to trash the planet anymore. I’m quite conscious of the damage that people do to the planet by going on tours to America and Australia. If the record was big in Australia, America or in Europe and someone told me we were needed there then I know it’s better five or six people to fly over on tour then hundreds of people coming over to see you. If we get successful in America then we’d look at it, but I’ve also got a young family and I don’t like to be away for too long.”

It won’t be too long before he returns to Holland and Gran Canaria, however, for Heaton is always writing new tunes. “I’ve got a few scraps of paper with lyrics. I’m much better at organising now, it’s why the albums keep coming, I’m permanently writing, if I walk down the street I’ve got a tune in my head and lyrics coming, it’s a strange disease I’ve got . . .”

As well as Holland and Gran Canaria, Paul is famously associated with Hull.

“I formed the Housemartins and the Beautiful South in Hull. It’s a place that really facilitates art and craft .”

Billy Bragg will open, playing his greatest hits from 7.20-8.20pm before Paul and Jacqui take to the stage from 8.50-10.30pm.