SHEFFIELD keeper of the soul flame Paul Carrack makes light of seemingly being on the road almost as often as a truck driver.

“Has the last tour finished?” he says, when The Press welcomes him to York once more.

Is your touring never-ending, like Bob Dylan’s famously rolling concert diary, Paul? “Hopefully,” he says, looking forward to playing the Grand Opera House tonight, a year to the month since his previous show there.

Last time, singer-songwriter Paul was promoting A Different Hat, his album recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The headwear enthusiast is wearing a different hat once more, albeit a more familiar one. “There’s a new album on the way, though I can’t see it coming out till March,” says the former Ace and Mike & The Mechanics vocalist and Roxy Music and Squeeze keyboard player.

“But there’s a new single, Time To Move On, that’s getting a lot of airplay on Radio 2 and Smooth, and it’s more back to the old modus operandi, having got that orchestral labour of love off my chest.

“I’d wanted to do that album for a long time and rather than a career move it was just something I wanted to do well. In a way it was an indulgence but it did okay; it did about the same sales as my other albums but it hit different spots, like me being named Artist of the Year on Smooth FM.

“That was totally unexpected because normally those things are stitched up by the record companies. Maybe they’ve not got round to it yet! But you watch who wins next year; it’ll be the usual names.”

Three songs from A Different Hat feature in Paul’s tour set list, but you can sense his focus has moved on. “The single, Time To Move On, has come out of my leaning towards upbeat soul. That’s my calling and it’s great to play with my band,” he says.

“At the moment, I’d say I’m about half way through the new record and it’s generally upbeat and ‘soully’; that’s been the way it’s come out so far.”

To prove the point, not only Time To Move On will feature in tonight’s set, so will the even more assertive new number I’ve Got A Good Feeling.

• Paul Carrack and his seven-piece band play the Grand Opera House, York, tonight at 8pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024.

Did you know?

In 1990, Paul Carrack was part of Roger Waters’ band for the legendary performance of Pink Floyd’s album, The Wall, in Berlin. In front of a crowd of 250,000, Carrack took the lead vocal on Hey You.