The Divine Comedy
Promenade

THE REVIEW

In 1600, sacred music was the highest affirmation of this noble art. In 1994, the son of a Northern Irish bishop, and his not-so-successful orchestral pop band released yet another splendid album. Promenade: an album about the sea, a concept album about two lovers and their relationship with water.

There would be much to say about Neil Hannon's project, about his singer-songwriter music, about why a man who should, in many respects, be placed on the highest pedestals of British popular music, so much so that he could comfortably be compared to John Lennon himself, instead finds himself as only the imaginary friend of a minority of people who have had the chance to come close to his music. But in reality, I hope to make you understand the greatness of this Irish singer-songwriter through his third album.

If we consider the career of the Divine Comedy (whose name encapsulates the two fundamental musical themes of this orchestra: the musical elevation to a higher plane and at the same time a great love for the small pleasures of life), Promenade is still a "youth" album. However, it contains the most beautiful track ever composed by Hannon: "Tonight We Fly", which truly encapsulates the message of this band, expressing a flight beyond all judgment and prejudice, beyond the pains of earthly life.
But let’s start from the beginning: in "Bath" our couple decides to go for a bath (an experience always very particular for our cousins across the Channel), which is followed by a bicycle ride expressed by "Going Downhill Fast"; a complex musical experience, a mix between a true song and a sort of requiem. The two then engage in a literary discussion in "The Booklovers", a solemn song with quotes from the greatest British and non-British writers, a tribute to the great authors of the past where text and music intertwine in a single flow of sensations, which intensifies in the excellent finale.

"Seafood's Song" is a musical tribute to gastronomy but we get to "Geronimo": apparently it seems unrelated to the composition, but instead symbolizes the incessant rain that is an emblem of both "ruined opportunity" (imagine a picnic) and rebirth (the green irrigated fields) so characteristic of the bleak British civilization. "Don't Look Down" is the most schizophrenic piece, with syncope oboe and rhythmic guitar. It is the first step toward the much-promoted ascension: our heroes climb high but the fear of falling drives them mad, their only choice is not to look down! And from above they see Europe: the Old Continent where in the collective imagination everything begins; in "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" Hannon crafts snippets of European man's life and turns it into a French film rich in romanticism while the band plays a poignant and aristocratic melody.

The two then begin to reminisce about their youth, resulting in "The Summerhouse", where I seem to catch some Beatles quotations: a melancholy, slow song, like an old film. After this song, the girl shows signs of imbalance, intending to throw herself into the waters and succumb to them, the song title is "Neptune's Daughter", the style becomes dark, bitter like seawater—not sad or melancholic, but properly imbued with that perverse malignant justice behind every shipwreck. Can you imagine the experience of being alone in a sea trying to drown you? The Divine Comedy evidently succeeded. Ironically, the girl is saved and to celebrate the two get drunk and sing "A Drinking Song"; the typical Irish pub song where it doesn't matter who you are or where you were born but only how drunk you are! I should point out the embarrassing pronunciation of Horace’s quote: "Dolce et Decorum est pro patria mori".
A song that brings Hannon closer to his homeland.
But like in a fairy tale, the day is about to end and "Ten Second to Midnight" is missing; it seems that our merry-maker is leaving us at the end credits of an exciting story between text and music, instead, here comes right after "Tonight We Fly". There would be so much to say about this piece. It is the culmination of a journey both for the concept album and for the band in general. The two lovers gain the ability to fly and abandon the concerns of the earthly world: the composition is typically baroque and reconnects with the sacred music of the 1600s, indeed. Therefore, we can say that compared to the other tracks it has an almost mystical connotation; so much so that the last fifteen seconds of the album are named: "Ode to The Man".

In short, I tried to make you understand that already by the third album Neil Hannon is not to be considered a simple semi-unknown pop singer, The Divine Comedy, on the other hand, is not a simple orchestra for romantic songs. This album already testifies to a message, a snapshot of the simplest (and sometimes most terrifying) experiences of human life.
And then the music has something hypnotic, I don't think one needs to ask why these melodies are superior to the multitude crowding around them, I have chosen to accept it as a dogma.

I just wonder one thing... what could that glass pyramid behind Neil on the cover ever symbolize?