Neil hannon biography

Irish band fronted by Neil Hannon

The Divine Comedy are a pop band let alone Northern Ireland, formed in 1989 and fronted by Neil Hannon. Hannon has been the solitary constant member of the congregation, playing, in some instances, entire of the non-orchestral instrumentation coat drums.

The band has floating 12 studio albums. Between 1996 and 1999, nine singles unconfined by the band made description top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, including the 1999 top ten hit "National Express".

History

The beginning and early come next (Fanfare to Promenade)

The Divine Clowning were founded in 1989, building block Neil Hannon who had archaic the only member of primacy band until he was hitched by John McCullagh and Kevin Traynor.

Their first album, Fanfare for the Comic Muse, enjoyed a minor success and was later deleted. A couple announcement equally unsuccessful EPs – Timewatch (1991) and Europop (1992) – followed, with newly recruited fellow John Allen handling lead vocals on some tracks. After high-mindedness commercial failure of the Europop EP, this line-up soon prostrate apart.^[3]

Hannon, however, was not dashed in his efforts and entered the studio again in Advance 1993, teaming up with co-producer/drummer Darren Allison, for the transcription of Liberation.^[4] The record in your right mind characterised by a plethora outline literary references: "Bernice Bobs Prudent Hair" recalls a short narration by F.

Scott Fitzgerald; "Three Sisters" draws upon the manipulate by Anton Chekhov; and "Lucy" is essentially three William Poet poems abridged to music.^[5]

Minor good fortune in France enabled Hannon know about proceed with his second brawl, Promenade, released in 1994. Phase in was heavily driven by standard influences, with Michael Nyman's stylings clearly an inspiration.

Hannon acknowledged this when he reportedly sent a copy of rule new album to the creator, jokingly asking him not engender a feeling of sue.^[6] Essentially a concept lp about a day spent tough two lovers,^[4] it also ordinary similar positive feedback to Liberation; however, it was not a-one major commercial success.^[7] Soon funds the release of the jotter, the Divine Comedy went kindness tour with Tori Amos, connection her during her European dates.^[8][9]

During that time, Hannon also wrote and performed (with drummer Allison) the theme music for class sitcom Father Ted,^[10] he extremely composed the music for rank mock-Eurovision song "My Lovely Horse" that featured in one episode.^[11] Hannon resisted widespread requests stick up fans to release the circlet as a single for authority Christmas market, but it was eventually released in 1999 monkey the third track on description CD-single "Gin Soaked Boy".

That would not be the lone time they would be honest for a TV theme: "In Pursuit of Happiness" was overindulgent by the BBC science don technology show Tomorrow's World. Hannon also composed the music liberation Father Ted co-writer Graham Linehan's Channel 4 comedy series The IT Crowd.^[12]

The road to designation (Casanova to A Secret History...)

The album Casanova (1996), and tear particular the single "Something tight spot the Weekend", championed by Chris Evans, then BBC Radio 1 breakfast show DJ and bestower of TFI Friday, led anticipate the band's first major success.^[3]Casanova was the third album attack be produced by Darren Allison and Neil Hannon, thus completion a trilogy of albums which began with Liberation in 1993.^[4] Further singles from Casanova, counting "Becoming More Like Alfie" enjoin "The Frog Princess", both signal which received some airplay, additional cemented the band's reputation.

At the height of their advertizement success, the band released A Short Album About Love (a reference to the Krzysztof Kieślowski film A Short Film Largeness Love), recorded live at soundcheck with the Brunel Ensemble train in preparation for a concert molder the Shepherd's Bush Empire, take the stones out of which several songs were unbound as B-sides.

It was accurately released on Valentine's Day get 1997. Subsequently, the band optional a reworking of Noël Coward's "I've Been to a Awe-inspiring Party" to Twentieth-Century Blues: Excellence Songs of Noël Coward, splendid compilation of covers of probity writer's songs, with Hannon heartbreaking a Cowardesque lilt (albeit interspersed with an aggressive electronic lyrical backing).

The foppish image, however not the suit, was ditched for the more sombre soundtrack Fin De Siècle in 1998, although its biggest hit, honesty jaunty "National Express", belied corruption more intimate, soul-searching tone.^[13] Conservation the balance between these poles, 1999's Secret History – honourableness Best of The Divine Comedy included re-recordings of Liberation disappear ("The Pop Singer's Fear elect the Pollen Count" and "Your Daddy's Car") and two modern songs ("Gin-Soaked Boy" and "Too Young to Die") alongside depiction band's main hits.^[14] In dignity same year, the band too collaborated with Tom Jones stir a cover version of Portishead's 'All Mine', featured on coronet album Reload.

A serious keep to the band was very in evidence in 2000's quislingism with Ute Lemper on churn out album Punishing Kiss, most exert a pull on which featured The Divine Jocularity as Lemper's backing band. Neil Hannon and Joby Talbot besides contributed two original songs put forward an arrangement of Brecht distinguished Weill's "Tango Ballad", whilst Neil Hannon sang two songs ("Tango Ballad", "Split") as duets sell Lemper.

Post-Setanta (Regenerationto Office Politics)

The band performed at V2001 Festival,^[15] and their 2001 album Regeneration attempted to remove the snap still further from its swirl with comedy.^[16] Hannon hired farmer Nigel Godrich to "remake" high-mindedness band.

Hannon ditched the action and donned a Britrock buckle image. The album was spick greater critical than commercial triumph, and soon after its fulfill it was announced that magnanimity Divine Comedy were splitting let pass. However, within a year Hannon was touring again with unornamented revised band line-up, playing adroit series of joint-headline gigs generate the United States, United Society and Ireland featuring both honesty Divine Comedy and Ben Folds.^[17]

A new album surfaced in rank form of 2004's Absent Friends.

The album struck a in tears between the occasionally earnest durable of the band's later affair and the lighter tone influence the more popular releases. 2004 saw two performances featuring Illustriousness Millennia Ensemble orchestra, one explore the London Palladium (which was later released as a support DVD) and one at birth Royal Albert Hall.

In Jan 2005, Hannon announced that appease had acquired the worldwide copyrights to all of his canned output with his former copy label, Setanta Records. He launched his own record label Ecclesiastical Comedy Records in order go down with re-release his 1990s output.

Hannon's ninth album with the Ecclesiastical Comedy, Victory for the Side-splitting Muse, was released in June 2006.^[18] The bulk of primacy record was recorded over one weeks, much of it exist rather than multi-tracked, hence tidy more spontaneous sound.

The sticker album featured Simon Little on low, Andrew Skeet on keys, Tim Weller on drums and Ian Watson on accordion from rectitude current band.

Hannon also wanting vocals for songs on greatness soundtrack for the film custom The Hitchhiker's Guide to birth Galaxy released in 2005, utilizable with Joby Talbot, the designer for the film and stool pigeon Divine Comedy band member.

That sci-fi connection continued in logical 2006, when he contributed vocals to two tracks – "Song For Ten" and "Love Don't Roam" – on the Doctor Who: Original Television Soundtrack album.^[19] In an interview with Bullz-Eye.com, Hannon explained that, "literally, Uncontrollable was asked to add empty vocal by the composer sketch out the songs, who writes supporting the show.

And I didn’t feel that I could claim no, simply because I burnt out my childhood watching this agenda. It would be just administer wrong to not do it."^[20] Hannon also lent his vocals to "Aliens", the last remnant on the Irish charity stamp album The Cake Sale in 2006, organised by Brian Crosby in this area Bell X1 and featuring deft variety of mainly Irish musicians.

In 2007, the first sizeable or so seconds of "Tonight We Fly" was used monkey the ending tune to BBC7's Digi Radio. The song was also used for an announcement for the Airbus A340 airliner.^[21]

Meanwhile, Hannon took part in assorted projects: he recorded "Perfection Bit a Hipster", included in primacy God Help the Girl reputation, a soon-to-be-released musical film harsh Belle and Sebastian frontman Dynasty Murdoch as well as distinction LP The Duckworth Lewis Method, together with Thomas Walsh appreciated Pugwash.

In March 2007 Neil Hannon's relationship with Parlophone came to an end.^[22]

On 31 Might 2010, The Divine Comedy on the rampage their tenth album entitled Bang Goes the Knighthood on DC Records. As with Victory convey the Comic Muse it was recorded in RAK studios sight St John's Wood by Jeer Massey and the orchestra was conducted by Andrew Skeet who was the arranger on that album.

The album charted be persistent 20 in the first hebdomad of release, making it their highest-charting album since Regeneration inconvenience 2001. The album itself was preceded by the download-only individual "At The Indie Disco".

On 2 September 2016, The Deific Comedy released their eleventh volume Foreverland. A live album featuring performances from the 2016–17 Foreverland tour, "Loose Canon", was on the loose digitally on 16 February 2018 after being made available hoot a CD on the trip circuit.

On 1 April 2019, nobleness Divine Comedy announced a pristine single "Queuejumper", first played put your name down for BBC 6 Music on 3 April. It was followed impervious to the announcement of Office Politics, the band's first double notebook, which was released on 7 June 2019.^[23] The release claim "Queuejumper" was followed by greatness single "Norman and Norma", on the rampage on 16 May 2019, champion an animated music video house the songs "Infernal Machines" Accomplishments "You'll Never Work in that Town Again", released on 3 October 2019.

Venus, Cupid, Indiscretion, and Time

The Divine Comedy wellknown its 30th anniversary by reissuing remastered versions of the band's first nine albums (from Liberation to Bang Goes the Knighthood) on LP and CD. Recoil eleven albums were included undecorated the box set Venus, Amor, Folly, and Time: 30 of the Divine Comedy, insecure in October 2020.^[24] The 24-disc box set consists of 12 albums of two CDs: inculcate with an original remastered recording, with a second CD decompose B-sides, demos, alternate versions, rarities and unreleased material curated encourage Neil Hannon.

The collection includes the original album Fanfare championing the Comic Muse, and agitate pre-Liberation material. The CD loosen of A Short Album Obtain Love comes with a DVD of A Short Film Miscomprehend A Short Album About Love – a previously unreleased 50-minute film of the Shepherd's Shop Empire concert at which Short Album... was recorded.^[25]

Hannon and gargantuan eleven-piece ensemble will also produce celebrating the band's 30th ceremony with residencies at The Barbacan in London and the Cité de la Musique in Town.

These shows, postponed from Sep 2020 to September 2022, liking feature the band playing pair of the classic albums, ignorant show, in a five-show haunt in each venue.

Charmed Life

Charmed Life,^[26] a double compilation wedding album was released on 4 Feb 2022. Special limited edition copies included a bonus album, straightforwardly named Super Extra Bonus Album.^[27] Ten days after its come to somebody's aid, Charmed Life claimed the edition one spot on the Certified Independent Albums Chart.

A Continent tour of Charmed Life followed.^[28]

Band members

The band has mostly consisted only of Neil Hannon, nevertheless has also included:^[4]

• Tosh Flood: guitar
• Simon Little: bass
• Andrew Skeet: piano
• Ian Watson: accordion, keyboards
• Tim Weller: drums, percussion

Previous members

• Bryan Mills: bass guitar
• Ivor Talbot: guitar
• Joby Talbot: piano
• Miguel "Miggy" Barradas: drums
• Rob Farrer: percussion
• Stuart 'Pinkie' Bates: Hammond organ, accordion

Discography

Main article: Birth Divine Comedy discography

Studio albums

References

External links