Blue-eyed soul veteran Paul Carrack has released his latest single, You’re Not Alone. The new track – one of the former Mike and Mechanics man’s signature melodic ballads – provides fans with a first taster of his upcoming eighteenth studio album One on One.

One on One will serve as a further demonstration of Carrack’s one-man musical prowess: he wrote, recorded and produced every track on the album during the lockd0wn-blighted months of 2020. It will be his first LP since 2018’s These Days, which was described by prog journal Sea of Tranquility as “soulful adult pop with an Americana country tinge.”

The multi-instrumentalist enjoyed his first taste of transatlantic success back in 1975, when his band Ace scored a number #3 hit in the US with How Long; a track that has since been covered by the likes of Rod Stewart, Bobby Womack, Aswad and Yazz. In the years following How Long, Carrack would become one of rock’s most sought-after keyboard players; twinkling the ivories for Roxy Music, Frankie Miller and new wave pop-rock sensation Squeeze, for whom he laid down a memorable vocal track for 1981 hit Tempted.

After further stints as a session musician with  acts includingThe Pretenders and The Smiths, the Yorkshireman’s career entered a new purple patch when he was recruited to Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford’s new project Mike and The Mechanics. Carrack was the ultimate utility man for the group between 1985 and 2004; taking on keyboard, bass, guitar and drum duties for the band as well as sharing vocal duties with former Sad Cafe frontman Paul Young prior to Young’s death in 2000 at the age of 53. Carrack provided the vocals for a number of the band’s biggest hits, including Silent Running; Over My Shoulder; A Time And Place; Another Cup of Coffee and classic tearjerker The Living Years.

Eight Paul Carrack solo albums have emerged since his departure from Mike and The Mechanics, and he has continued to tour extensively. Late last year there were calls for a formal civic recognition of the musician in his home city of Sheffield, with fan Nigel Brooks initiating a public campaign for the singer-songwriter to be inducted into the steel city’s Legends Walk Of Fame, where the likes of Joe Cocker and Def Leppard have already been honoured with gold plaques.

Brooks told local newspaper The Star: “He (Paul) is simply a brilliant entertainer and that voice is instantly recognisable. He grew up in Sheffield and still follows Sheffield Wednesday. All of the members of his band – which is also brilliant – are from Sheffield. The reason I started the petition is because someone on the Facebook group Paul Carrack Fans Community had gone to the 2020 tour concert at Sheffield Town Hall and had noted that it was a shame he was not included in the Sheffield Legends Walk of Fame.”

In a press release published by Beatsway, Carrack said of new track You’re Not Alone: “I’d say the song is self-explanatory, but the sentiment is one of unquestioning commitment and support. I very much hope I get the chance to perform this song live with my band when we get the green light to start touring again, which we all hope will be at some point this year.”

The prolific live performer is due to return to action on the road in April with gigs in Bath and Llandudno (subject to government guidelines), and will then play three further UK dates (Hull, Ipswich and Folkestone) in October before travelling across the North Sea for a series of gigs in Belgium and the Netherlands. Carrack will later undertake a full complement of UK shows – dubbed The Good and Ready Tour – early in 2022. The troubadour’s current touring schedule for 2021 and 2022 is as follows:

03/04/21 – Forum – Bath
05/04 – Venue Cymru – Llandudno
19/10 – Bonus Arena – Hull
21/10 – Regent Theatre – Ipswich
22/10 – Leas Cliff Hall – Folkestone
21/01/22 – King George’s Hall – Blackburn
22/01 – City Hall – Hull
23/01 – Globe – Stockton
28/01 – Bridgewater Hall – Manchester
29/01 – Philharmonic Hall – Liverpool
30/01 – Philharmonic Hall – Liverpool
04/02 – City Hall – Newcastle
05/02 – Caird Hall – Dundee
06/02 – Festival Theatre – Edinburgh
10/02 – Dome – Brighton
11/02 – Pavilion Theatre – Bournemouth
12/02 – St David’s Hall – Cardiff
17/02 – Barbican – York
18/02 – Royal Concert Hall – Glasgow
19/02 – Music Hall – Aberdeen
04/03 – Cliffs Pavilion – Southend
05/03 – New Theatre – Peterborough
06/03 – De Montfort Hall -Leicester
10/03 – The Palladium – London
11/03 – Symphony Hall – Birmingham
12/03 – Anvil – Basingstoke
17/03 – G Live – Guildford
18/03 – Royal Concert Hall – Nottingham
19/03 – City Hall – Sheffield