OH lordy, he's gone and done it again. You'll be remembering Divine Comedy from times past - he first came amongst us with Liberation (our album of the year for 1993, if memory serves), which was a stunning soundscape of all that is class in modern composition - and if that weren't enough, there were loads of dead posh touches contained within its precocious lyrics.
He followed this up with the themed (as opposed to the feared "concept") album Promenade (1994) which was rather on the exquisite side as well. He's been locked away in a garret (no, honestly) in South London for the past 12 months and here he comes now waving a circular object that goes under the name Casanova: "It's to cheer you up, to bring a rosy hue to the pallid cheeks of the nation's youth." What's it all about?
Over to the man himself, who's going to give us a special, commemorative, cut out and keep track by track guide to the songs that make up that which is called Casanova:
1
Something For The Weekend: The idea, as the album opener, is that while love is a dangerous game and usually ends in heartbreak, it's usually much more fun to dive in head first. This was inspired by Kate Beckinsale's face.
2
Becoming More Like Alfie: Oh come on! It's all right to be a laddish, misogynistic wanker, isn't it? And besides, I can express it in a darling retro Cockney pastiche just like everybody else. Or can I?
3
Middle Class Heroes: There's been a lot of talk about this song, maybe too much talk. This song is not a snobby song. It's gritty observation plus a little barbed comment. Seedy subtext? That's down to you. But how low can I get?
4
In And Out Of Paris And London: This low.
5
Charge: Correction, this low. This is about as low as I'll ever get. Savour the moment folks.
6
Songs Of Love: A meditation on the strange anomalies of my trade. While most young guns are out there having some fun (crazy ladies keeping them on the run), wise guys like me realise there's danger in emotional ties and stay home at nights strumming themselves to sleep.
7
The Frog Princess: The whole may be greater than the sum of its parts, but that only unaccountable difference can only be found in the imagination of the listener. The creator is much too close to the nuts and bolts to lend any particular insight; at least, not yet.
8
Woman Of The World: One more Divine Comedy song in which Audrey Hepburn plays the lead and Neil Hannon plays everything else. I suppose if you crammed me into a nice old leather armchair, stuffed a cigar in my gob, a Daquiri in my hand and Cole Porter on the gramophone you might get some sense out of me regarding, this song.
9
Through A Long And Sleepless Night: So as to make this carry on a little more worthwhile, I'll let you into a little secret. The words (and there are lots of them) for this song were taken entirely from the leftovers in my notebook, those lines and song ideas that I hadn't been able to make use of elsewhere. It makes for a rather bizarre, but strangely illuminating, six minutes of paranoia.
10
Theme From Casanova: From the ridiculous to the sublime. This is probably the purest express ion of Divine Comedy schizophrenia to date, and I didn't have to say a word on it.
11
The Dogs And The Horses: Recorded live in Abbey Road with a 40 piece orchestra on the greatest day of my life: "Every horse has its year and every dog its day". Goodbye.
. Casanova by The Divine Comedy goes on release next week. We heartily recommend it.
YOU'LL have heard the fab new single Goldfinger, but brace yourself for a mother of an album when Ash release 1977 in about 18 days' time ... Bit of a Jam/Weller vibe in Dublin over the next week so. First, we've got The Paul Weller Experience in the Mean Fiddler tonight, but perhaps more importantly, All Mod Cons play the same venue on April 20th. The Cons only play Jam songs - which is such a good idea, you'd wonder why Paul Weller doesn't do the same thing.
