Divine Comedy - Victory For The Comic Muse (CD 2006)

A Divine Comedy album is always much anticipated by the fans and met with a tangible but low-key marketing and publicity putsch. Neil Hannon is a popular guest on those sensible shows that growns-ups watch or listen to (like Jools Holland) and the record company managed to put up some billboards in London this time around.

The title ‘Victory for the Comic Muse’ is a hark back to the Divine Comedy’s first record many years ago called ‘Fanfare for the Comic Muse’ and which is hard to get hold of and all but disowned by Hannon who vows that it will never be re-released.

The album was recorded in a few weeks in December 2005 and the vocals were added by Neil in January 2006 in a separate stretch of recording. On the Limited Edition ‘first class’ CD there is an extra disc which is in essence a gentle documentary on the making of the album. Interesting? Certainly. Worth the extra quids? Not really.

There are some gems on this album. ‘To Die a Virgin’ is an amusing ballad about a teenager’s desperate hope to have sex for the first time. In ‘Lady of a Certain Age’ we hear about the life of a lonely lady who was once part of the smart set chasing the sun around the Cote d’Azur but who is now lonely and unloved. The first single, ‘Diva Lady’ lampoons the excessive neediness of uber-famnous women. ‘Count Grassi’s Passage over Piedmont' is a soaring tale of a hot air balloon ride that will delight die-hard fans. ‘Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World’ is, rather surprisingly, a cute little pop love song with a touch of the solid wall of sound. And 'The Plough' is a solid 'everyman' story about a personal stuggle with morality.

For me, the mystery of this album lies with the singles. The Divine Comedy are usually generous with their B sides and the two ‘Diva Lady’ releases have engaging extra tracks. The exuberant swing number ‘Births, Deaths and Marriages’ is superb and really ought to be on the album. And ‘Don’t Blame the Young’ provides authentic rock’n’roll and a humorous plea to respect our youngsters. It's toe-tappingly brilliant and again should have made the cut.

This is a good album, but a little patchy in parts, but for the earnest DivCom fans this is an excellent addition to the canon. But when you look back and compare it to ‘Liberation’ or ‘Promenade’ which are so much more complete and inventive it’s impossible not to say “The old stuff was better.”