The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy is an English-language chamber pop and art pop group from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, active from 1991 to the present. It is fronted by Neil Hannon, who is the only ever-present member and the band’s founder. Hannon is originally from Derry. The group is known for combining pop songwriting with orchestral and classical elements, along with occasional comedy, irony and theatrical presentation.

Formation and early releases

Hannon forms the group in 1989 and first works with John McCullagh and Kevin Traynor. The line-up later includes John Allen, who sings lead on some tracks. The band’s early releases include the debut album Fanfare for the Comic Muse, which is heavily influenced by R.E.M. and later deleted, followed by the EPs Timewatch and Europop. These releases gain little commercial success, and the original line-up soon falls apart. Hannon then continues the project and reappears in 1993 with Liberation, which includes material ranging from synth pop to classical arrangements.

Classical influences and wider recognition

Promenade follows in 1994 and is built around classical influence, with Michael Nyman’s style noted as a clear reference point. Hannon acknowledges this by sending the composer a copy of the album in a joking note. The record is conceived as a concept album about a day in the lives of two lovers and receives strong critical response, although not major commercial success. Around this period, Hannon also writes and performs theme music for the television sitcom Father Ted; material from this later feeds into the song “Songs of Love” on Casanova. He also writes “My Lovely Horse” for the same series. Another television theme, “In Pursuit Of Happiness,” is used by the BBC science and technology programme Tomorrow’s World. He later composes music for The IT Crowd.

Commercial peak and late-1990s albums

The album Casanova in 1996, and especially the single “Something for the Weekend,” gives the group its first major commercial success. During this period, Hannon becomes known for a formal, dandy-like public image. A Short Album About Love follows, recorded live at soundcheck with the Brunel Ensemble before a concert at Shepherd’s Bush Empire and released on Valentine’s Day in 1997. The band also records a version of Noel Coward’s “I’ve Been to a Marvellous Party” for a compilation of Coward covers. In 1998, Fin De Siècle appears with a more sombre tone, though its best-known track is the bright “National Express.” The 1999 compilation Secret History - the Best of The Divine Comedy includes a new recording of “The Pop Singer’s Fear of the Pollen Count” plus new songs “Gin-Soaked Boy” and “Too Young to Die.” In the same year, the band works with Tom Jones on a version of Portishead’s “All Mine” for his album Reload.

Collaborations, line-up changes and later albums

In 2000, the group serves as Ute Lemper’s backing band on much of her album Punishing Kiss. Regeneration follows in 2001, with producer Nigel Godrich brought in to reshape the band’s sound and move it away from its comic reputation. After the album’s release, the band is announced as splitting up, but Hannon returns within a year with a revised line-up and tours in the USA, the UK and Ireland alongside Ben Folds. Folds later covers “Songs of Love” on his Sunny 16 EP. Absent Friends appears in 2004 and balances the lighter and more serious sides of the project. That year also includes performances at the London Palladium and the Royal Albert Hall, with the Palladium show later issued as a live DVD.

Label ownership and side projects

In 2005, Hannon acquires the worldwide rights to his recordings from Setanta Records and plans to reissue earlier material through his own label, Divine Comedy Records. Victory for the Comic Muse follows in 2006, recorded largely in two weeks and featuring Dougie Payne of Travis. In 2009, Hannon and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash release an album about cricket under the name The Duckworth Lewis Method. The next year, Bang Goes the Knighthood appears as the tenth Divine Comedy album and the first released on Hannon’s own label.

Members

Across its history, the group includes John McCullagh, Kevin Traynor, John Allen, Bryan Mills, Ivor Talbot, Joby Talbot, Chris Worsey, Grant Gordon, Stuart Bates, Miggy Barradas, Rob Farrer, Simon Little, Andrew Skeet, John Evans, Tim Weller, Lucy Wilkins, Natalie Box and Neil Hannon.