What you need to know:
Did you like the music of “Wonka”? It had to be this way: it was the work of Neil Hannon, the sole director of the Divine Comedy.
Immersed in the Britpop wave of the 90s, the music of Neil Hannon and The Divine Comedy was not appreciated enough. It should be more: We are standing before a masterpiece in which the listener is immersed the traditional folk of Ireland, the immensity of the orchestral arrangements à la Burt Bacharach and the vocal range of a powerful baritone… all without losing ground, thanks to texts full of irony, sex and details of everyday life.
The Divine Comedy is a band that originated in… rather: The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon, who was born in Northern Ireland just over 50 years ago. A multi-instrumentalist who has released 12 studio albums with his band (his main project) and collaborated with countless artists. One of those geniuses that don’t grow on trees. Here’s proof of what it can do.
“Tonight we fly”
Their first two albums are notable, but The Divine Comedy took off with their third release: Promonade (1993), an album full of allusions to Greco-Latin culture and where it comes from this song that many consider to be their great anthem. Not bad when a band is identified with a work like this. Two years before the Smashing Pumpkins celebrated the magic of the night with “Tonight, Tonight,” Hannon and Co. did so with “Tonight We Fly.” Songs with a twin feeling.
“Something for the weekend”
Here Neil Hannon plays the role of a romantic lord, pouring seductive verses over a galloping melody accompanied by drums and the ringing of a bell, reminiscent of other times. And yes: although with catchy Eurovision-style music (Hannon has studied these types of songs well) It’s called Lothair, Rowe’s 19th century character. XVIII, who unscrupulously courts every woman he meets. Only in this song the seducer is punished. By the way, the album that contains this great song is Casanova (nineteen ninety). It had to be like this…
“National Express”
Many may criticize that the Divine Comedy sometimes exaggerates with the arrangements and completely obscures the pop melody. There are those who say so… but it would be a sin to point it out with this song: The orchestra and pop mix in such a perfect and fragile balance that any change could have changed everything.. Subtleties, the same as in the lyrics, believed to be observations made by Neil Hannon while riding public transport, But a slight change of perspective leads us to a psychiatric clinic. Fun.
“The certainty of chance”
Did you want more power from the orchestra? Here The Divine Comedy doesn’t do any nonsense and makes an impressive song. ““The Certainty of the Chance” is a song in which the lyrics speak of the potentialization of what may seem minimal… and leads by example musically.: a simple melody that, wrapped in arrangements, becomes a moving and beautiful song. Majestic to say the least about this gem of the world end of century (1998).
“The perfect love song”
A challenging title for this song regeneration (2001), but not so much when Neil Hannon sings to you what you hear: an almost divine bass base à la Paul McCartney and the sound of the Beach Boys (of course in their Pet Sound era). With simple but touching lyrics, this results in… well: the perfect love song.
“Our mutual friend”
The title “One of the best poets of his time” is not that high for the leader of the “Divine Comedy”.; a small example of why it is like that in this song Absent friends (2004), in which Hannon tells a short story in verse that, in the style of 19th century short stories, begins with the protagonist’s warning that what follows is the reason for his sadness. And if. Quite a “tragedy” of our time, told to the rhythm of a painful zarzuela. Roleta.