The Divine Comedy (solo)

Fri 12 November 2010

West Road Concert Hall

As you are no doubt aware, Neil Hannon is the Divine Comedy; purveyor of witty, orchestral pop and knowing musical winks since 1989.

A whopping ten albums into an illustrious career he might be, but on ‘Bang Goes The Knighthood’ - the latest Divine Comedy album - Hannon’s lyrics are still as sharp as razors, his melodies as gloriously beautiful and his power to make you laugh one second and sob the next unfaltering.

Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Neil Hannon signed his first record deal aged 19. His first albums ‘Liberation’ and ‘Promenade’ were critically acclaimed, but it was 1996’s ‘Casanova’, and its lead single ‘Something For The Weekend’ that brought him widespread fame.

‘A Short Album about Love’ and ‘Fin de Siecle’ followed, with the single ‘National Express’ from the latter album achieving the band’s first UK top ten single. 1999’s best of compilation ‘A Secret History’ charted in the UK at no. 3.

‘Regeneration’ was released on new label Parlophone in 2001, produced by the renowned Nigel Godrich. This was followed in 2004 by ‘Absent Friends’ and in 2006 by the Choice Music Prize winning ‘Victory For The Comic Muse’.

In 2007 Hannon left EMI and set up his own record label, Divine Comedy Records. The first release on the label was a collaborative project with fellow Irishman Thomas Walsh, a concept album about cricket called ‘The Duckworth Lewis Method’. The album was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in the Best Album category. ‘Bang Goes The Knighthood’ is the label’s second full length release.

From lampooning the recent global financial crisis (‘The Complete Banker’) and singing the praises of hitting the dancefloor at your local alt.rock night club (‘At The Indie Disco’) to swinging sounds influenced by Norman Lewis’ wartime diary ‘Naples ‘44’ (‘Neapolitan Girl’) and offcuts from his Swallons and Amazons musical score (‘Island Life’), with ‘Bang Goes The Knighthood’ Hannon’s status as a master songwriter and sublime storyteller is assured.

Outside of The Divine Comedy, Hannon has contributed musically to a number of films and TV shows including Father Ted, The IT Crowd, Amelie, Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. He has written with and for a whole host of artists including Air, Yann Tiersen, Rodrigo Leao, Ute Lemper, Jane Birkin, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

‘Bang Goes The Knighthood’ will be released on May 31st 2010 on Divine Comedy Records via PIAS.

Cost: £17.50