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| Promenade | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 28 March 1994 | |||
| Recorded | October 1993 | |||
| Genre | Chamber pop | |||
| Length | 45:28 | |||
| Label | Setanta | |||
| Producer | ||||
| The Divine Comedy chronology | ||||
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Promenade is the third album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1994 on Setanta Records.
Promenade, like its predecessor, Liberation , was recorded by frontman Neil Hannon and co-producer Darren Allison, with the addition of a string quartet, as well as oboe/cor anglais courtesy of Joby Talbot, thus marking Talbot's first appearance with the band. Talbot would go on to become the arranger for most of the Divine Comedy's post- Casanova work, even co-writing two of the band's songs. [1]
One recurring element in Promenade is water, mentioned in one way or another in the songs "Bath", "A Seafood Song", "Geronimo", "The Summerhouse", "Neptune's Daughter" and "Tonight We Fly". The North Sea, itself, even plays a part in the album: producer Darren Allison made field recordings at North Blyth and Druridge Bay on the Northumberland Coast, which can be heard at the beginning of "Bath" and again in "Neptune's Daughter". [2]
Another recurring element is gods from Greek and Roman mythology: specifically, Aphrodite ("Bath"), Mercury ("Going Downhill Fast") and Neptune ("Neptune's Daughter").
Promenade is "a concept album about two lovers at the sea". [2] The album's style is even more classical-influenced than its predecessor, Liberation. The string arrangements are reminiscent of the works of Michael Nyman, with whom the Divine Comedy would later collaborate. Hannon once said that after attending one of Nyman's performances he went up to the composer, handed him a copy of Promenade, and jokingly said, "You can sue me if you like." Years later, Nyman said he did not remember the incident, but said he felt more "flattered than ripped off." [3]
Edward Neil Anthony Hannon is a singer and songwriter from Northern Ireland. He is the founder and frontman of the chamber pop group the Divine Comedy, and is the band's only constant member since its inception in 1989. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for the television sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd, as well as the original songs for the musical film Wonka (2023).
The Divine Comedy are a pop band from Northern Ireland, formed in 1989 and fronted by Neil Hannon. Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation except drums. The band has released 12 studio albums. Between 1996 and 1999, nine singles released by the band made the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, including the 1999 top ten hit, "National Express".
Joby Talbot is a British composer. He has written for a wide variety of purposes, with a broad range of styles, including instrumental and vocal concert music, film and television scores, pop arrangements and works for dance. He is known, to sometimes disparate audiences, for quite different works.
Liberation is the second album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released on 18 August 1993 by Setanta Records. Following the unsuccessful Fanfare for the Comic Muse, the group started improvising on their new album which was recorded in Fundamental, London in March 1993. Although it was the band's second album, the band's leader, Neil Hannon, often refers to it as the first, due to the stylistic differences from their debut album, Fanfare for the Comic Muse.
Casanova is the fourth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy. It was released in 1996 by Setanta Records, and it happened to be the band's commercial breakthrough. It was certified Gold in the UK in July 1997, aided by the release of the album's first single, "Something for the Weekend", which reached No. 13 on the charts. Two other singles released from the album, "Becoming More Like Alfie" and "The Frog Princess", charted at No. 27 and No. 15, respectively.
Absent Friends is the eighth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 2004 by Parlophone in the UK and Nettwerk in the U.S. Two singles were released from the album in the UK: "Come Home Billy Bird", which features former Kenickie vocalist Lauren Laverne on vocals, and the album's title track.
Setanta Records was a British independent record label led by founder Keith Cullen. Setanta published UK and Irish indie music in the late 1980s and in the 1990s.
A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy is a greatest hits compilation album by Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1999 by Setanta Records.
Regeneration is the seventh studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 2001 by Parlophone/EMI. Three singles were released from the album: "Love What You Do", "Bad Ambassador" and "Perfect Lovesong", the latter failing to make the top 40.
Fin de Siècle is the sixth album by Northern Irish pop band the Divine Comedy. It was released on 31 August 1998 by Setanta Records. Following the release of fifth studio album A Short Album About Love (1997), frontman Neil Hannon demoed new material at his flat in Clapham. During this time, the relationship between the band and their label Setanta Records was straining as a result of heated discussions over tour costs and studio sessions. They recorded their next album in three studios with Jon Jacobs as the main producer and Hannon co-producing. Fin de Siècle is a chamber pop concept album that details living in the 20th century.
A Short Album About Love is the fifth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1997 by Setanta Records. It was recorded on 20 October 1996 at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London.
Fanfare for the Comic Muse is the debut album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released in 1990 by Setanta Records. Recording took place at Homestead Studios in May 1990 with producer Sean O Neill. Lorcan Mac Loughlann engineered the sessions, and Mudd Wallace mixed the recordings.
"A Song for Europe" is the fifth episode of the second series of the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and the 11th episode overall. It originally aired on 5 April 1996 and has since been recognised as one of the most popular episodes of the show.
"The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" is a song by the Divine Comedy. Written by Neil Hannon, it was originally recorded for the Liberation album and was issued as the B-side of "Lucy".
"Generation Sex" is a song by the Divine Comedy. It was the first single from the album Fin de Siècle and features narration by presenter and columnist Katie Puckrik. It reached number nineteen on the UK Singles Chart.
Punishing Kiss is a studio album by German singer Ute Lemper, released in 2000 by Decca Records. It is the product of a collaboration between Lemper and the Divine Comedy and includes songs by the latter artist, as well as Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Philip Glass, Tom Waits, Scott Walker and Ute Lemper's signature artist, Kurt Weill.
"Gin Soaked Boy" is a song by Irish chamber pop band The Divine Comedy. It was the second single from the album A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy, released in 1999 on Setanta Records. The song peaked at No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for two weeks.
Darren Allison is an English record producer, musician, and audio engineer, best known for his production work with artists such as Spiritualized, The Divine Comedy, rock band Bôa, and, more recently, Efterklang, Belle & Sebastian and Amatorski.
"Lucy" is the debut single by the Divine Comedy, released in October 1993. Written by Neil Hannon and William Wordsworth, it is the only single from the album Liberation.
"Something for the Weekend" is a song by the Divine Comedy, produced by Darren Allison and Neil Hannon. It was the first single from Casanova and reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart. The song subsequently became a hit when Chris Evans heard it at a friend's party and had it played on his radio show the following Monday.
Promenade is even more overtly literary than Liberation. It opens with a quote from Isaac Watts' hymn "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" and ends with a quote from John Dryden's translation of one of Horace's odes (which is also sung as the chorus of "The Booklovers"). "The Booklovers" is a list of over seventy different authors.
References to French New Wave cinema occur in two of the songs. "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" alludes to François Truffaut's Jules et Jim , contains excerpts of dialogue from Jean-Luc Godard's À Bout de Souffle and contains the line "and when she asks for his ambition, Jean-Pierre replies 'My mission is to become eternal and to die'", describing a scene in À Bout de Souffle in which a novelist character played by Jean-Pierre Melville replies "devenir immortel et puis, mourir". [4] This song also contains a reference to Éric Rohmer's Claire's Knee . "The Booklovers" contains the line "Tu connais William Faulkner?", also a quote from À Bout de Souffle.
The title of "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" alludes to the famous World War I quote "The lamps are going out all over Europe" by British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey.[ citation needed ]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Q Magazine | [6] |
| NME | (positive) [7] |
| Hot Press | (positive) [8] |
| Mojo | (positive) [9] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [10] |
Neil Hannon used to send all of his albums to American singer-songwriter Scott Walker, of whom Hannon is a very big fan. After Hannon sent Walker a copy of Promenade, Walker sent him a letter back, stating that he particularly liked "The Booklovers".
All songs written and arranged by Neil Hannon
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bath" | 4:10 |
| 2. | "Going Downhill Fast" | 2:33 |
| 3. | "The Booklovers" | 5:51 |
| 4. | "A Seafood Song" | 3:29 |
| 5. | "Geronimo" | 1:53 |
| 6. | "Don't Look Down" | 4:48 |
| 7. | "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" | 3:29 |
| 8. | "The Summerhouse" | 4:15 |
| 9. | "Neptune's Daughter" | 4:49 |
| 10. | "A Drinking Song" | 4:37 |
| 11. | "Ten Seconds to Midnight" | 2:10 |
| 12. | "Tonight We Fly" | 3:01 |
| 13. | "Ode to the Man" (unlisted track) | 0:15 |
2020 Remaster Bonus Disc Apropos Of Promenade
All tracks are written by Neil Hannon, except where otherwise indicated
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Ten Seconds To Midnight" (Alternate Version - Home Recording) | 2:20 | ||
| 2. | "Assume The Goldsmith" (Home Recording) | 5:14 | ||
| 3. | "When The Lights Go Out All Over Europe" (Recorded live at the Theatre De La Ville, Paris, 1994) | 3:36 | ||
| 4. | "Tell Me What's Wrong" (Home Recording) | 2;15 | ||
| 5. | "Life's What You Make It" (Recorded live at Elephant Studios, London, 1993) | Mark Hollis, Tim Friese-Greene | A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy | 2:51 |
| 6. | "Lost Prom Jam" (Home Recording) | 1:42 | ||
| 7. | "Neptune's Daughter" (Demo - Home Recording) | 4:55 | ||
| 8. | "Going Downhill Fast" (Instrumental) | 2:32 | ||
| 9. | "The Booklovers" (Demo - Home Recording) | 4:56 | ||
| 10. | "The Bright Lights Of Ealing" (Home Recording) | 1:47 | ||
| 11. | "Bath" (Alternate Version - Home Recording) | 3:47 | ||
| 12. | "The Summerhouse" (Early Idea - Home Recording) | 1:18 | ||
| 13. | "The Summerhouse" (Recorded at the Theatre De La Ville, Paris, 1994) | A Secret History... The Best of the Divine Comedy | 4:34 | |
| 14. | "When The Lights Go Out All Over Europe" (Early Idea - Home Recording) | 2:44 | ||
| 15. | "A Woman Of The World" (Promenade-style Demo - Home Recording) | 2:25 | ||
| 16. | "Geronimo" (With Yann Tiersen, Recorded by Radio France for Bernard Lenoir's The Black Session on France Inter, 1998) | Gin Soaked Boy | 1:47 | |
| 17. | "Don't Look Down" (Demo - Home Recording) | 4:59 | ||
| 18. | "A Drinking Song" (Recorded at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 1996) | Everybody Knows (Except You) | 4:34 | |
| 19. | "Only For Tonight" (Home Recording) | 2:57 | ||
| 20. | "Tonight We Fly" (Demo - Home Recording) | 3:03 |
Personnel per booklet. [11]
Musicians
Production
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