Manchester Calling boasts all the hallmarks of Heatons beautifully bittersweet songwriting effortlessly catchy melodies allied with an everymans biting exasperation at the modern world alongside some truly heartfelt love songs.Produced by long time collaborator John Williams who produced both Housemartins albums and the previous three Paul Heaton Jacqui Abbott albums - What Have We Become (14), Wisdom, Laughter Lines (15), and Crooked Calypso (17) - the record was recorded at Blueprint Studios in Salford, Manchester. As is Paul Heatons habit the lyrics were written in various locations in North Holland and Belgium while the music was composed in a hotel in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria and in Limburg An Der Lahn in Germany.