''Victory for the Comic Muse'' is the ninth studio album by Irish
chamber pop
Chamber pop (or Chamber rock; also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of strings, horns, piano, and vocal harmonies, and other compo ...
band
the Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
, released in 2006 by
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
.
The title derives from the
E.M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stor ...
book ''
A Room with a View
''A Room with a View'' is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the restrained culture of Edwardian era England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a humorous critique of English society a ...
'' ("I have won a great victory for the comic muse"), as was the band's debut album ''
Fanfare for the Comic Muse''.
Recording
The album is unique in the Divine Comedy catalogue—and in the catalogue of most recent popular music—in that Hannon's original aim with the album was to record it entirely in two weeks, with the minimum of overdubbing. As such, almost all of the music on the album—much to the chagrin of the classical players involved on almost every track, and the Divine Comedy band itself—was recorded in live takes. At first, they attempted to use no click tracks or headphones, but this approach was eventually abandoned.
[https://thedivinecomedy.com/news/guy-talks-victory] The band would record their part, the orchestra would overdub theirs, and then Hannon would record his vocals. No further overdubbing took place unless absolutely necessary, in a fairly hurried style of recording, and in stark contrast to the modern recording technique of stacking up tracks.
During the recording, Hannon's vocals had to be recorded even more hurriedly than planned because for most of the two weeks he was suffering from a cold that got progressively worse before finally clearing up.
Release and reception
A special edition version of the album, officially available only on the first day of release, came with a bonus DVD and an additional cardboard sleeve.
On 28 February 2007, ''Victory for the Comic Muse'' won the
Choice Music Prize at a ceremony that took place in Dublin's
Vicar Street
Vicar Street is a concert, performing arts centre and events venue in Dublin, Ireland. Located on Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Vicar Street has capacity for 1,050 people for seated performances and 1,500 people for standing gigs. The venue is own ...
venue. The Choice Music Prize is Ireland's equivalent to the Mercury Music Prize. The judging panel was made up of 12 representatives from the Irish music industry. The prize consisted of a trophy as well as a cheque for €10,000. The Divine Comedy's victory was unexpected, as the album had received some lukewarm reviews and there was strong competition from the likes of
The Immediate
The Immediate were an avant-garde Irish rock quartet, based in Malahide. They made a considerable impact on the Irish music scene despite releasing only one album during the span of their association together. The album was '' In Towers and Clou ...
,
Duke Special
Duke Special (born Peter Wilson; 4 January 1971) is a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A piano-based songwriter with a romantic style and a warm, distinctly accented voice, he was previously known for his distinctiv ...
and
Snow Patrol.
Track listing
All songs written by Neil Hannon except where noted.
* "Party Fears Two" was originally recorded by
The Associates.
Personnel
Musicians
*
Neil Hannon
Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for ...
– vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo
*Ian Watson – accordion
*John Evans – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
*Charlotte Glasson – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone
*Chris Worsey – cello
*Ian Burdge – cello
*Chris Richards – clarinet
*Tim Weller – drums
*
Dougie Payne – electric bass
*Simon Little – electric bass, double bass
*Eliza Marshall – flute
*Matthew Gunner – French horn
*Camilla Pay – harp
*Celine Saout – harp
*Andrew Skeet – piano, harpsichord
*Ilid Jones – oboe, cor anglais
*Rob Farrer – percussion
*Mike Kearsey – trombone
*Daniel Newell – trumpet
*John Metcalfe – viola
*Reiad Chibah – viola
*Alison Dods – violin
*Andrew Haveron – violin
*Anna Kirkpatrick – violin
*Calina De La Mare – violin
*Gillon Cameron – violin
*Lucy Wilkins – violin
*Rick Koster – violin
*Ruth Rogers – violin
*Sonia Slany – violin
Technical personnel
*Neil Hannon – producer, arranger
*Andrew Skeet – musical director, additional arrangements
*Laurence Aldridge – engineer
*Mark Bishop – engineer
*Raj Das – engineer
*Richard Woodcraft – engineer
*Steve Rooke – mastering
*Tom Sheehan – photography
*Adrian Green – stamp photography
*Cally – art direction, design
*Jason Long – design
*Nik Rose – design
*Divine Management – management
*Chris Worsey – Millennia Ensemble management
*Jonathan Brigden – Millennia Ensemble management
Cultural references
*"Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World" is a reference to
the 80s television show of the same name.
*The sample at the beginning of "To Die a Virgin" is of
Jennifer Ehle
Jennifer Anne Ehle (; born December 29, 1969) is an American actress, the daughter of English actress Rosemary Harris and American author John Ehle. She gained fame for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in the 1995 BBC miniseries '' Pride and Prejudi ...
and
Toby Stephens
Toby Stephens (born 21 April 1969) is an English actor who has appeared in films in the UK, US and India. He is known for the roles of Bond villain Gustav Graves in the 2002 James Bond film ''Die Another Day'' (for which he was nominated for th ...
in the 1992 TV series ''
The Camomile Lawn
''The Camomile Lawn'' is a 1984 novel by Mary Wesley beginning with a family holiday in Cornwall in the last summer of peace before the Second World War. When the family is reunited for a funeral nearly fifty years later, it brings home to them ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Victory for the Comic Muse
2006 albums
Choice Music Prize-winning albums
The Divine Comedy (band) albums
Parlophone albums
Orchestral pop albums