Released early in 1996, Casanova was greeted with enthusiastic reviews and it slowly began to build an audience. Following the release of Promenade, Blur, Oasis, and Pulp made British indie rock acceptable for the pop mainstream, and the Divine Comedy benefited from their progress. music press it appeared on year-end lists from NME, Melody Maker, and Q, among others.

Promenade followed in 1994, again to positive reviews throughout the U.K. In 1993, he was signed to Setanta as the Divine Comedy and released Liberation to positive reviews. It was the last recording the original lineup would release.įollowing Europop, the Divine Comedy fell apart, and Hannon went back to Londonderry, where he began to write songs again. Produced by Edwyn Collins, the Europop EP was released later in 1992. The following year, they relocated to London, where they regularly supported Suede on club gigs. In 1991, John Allen joined the band as lead vocalist, and the group released the EP Timewatch, which was recorded when Hannon was still vocalist, that fall. The trio released an EP, Fanfare for the Comic Muse, in the spring of 1990 and supported the record with a few concerts, including a supporting slot for My Bloody Valentine.

Originally, the Divine Comedy was an R.E.M.-influenced guitar-driven trio, formed in Londonderry, Ireland, by Neil Hannon (vocals, guitar born in Londonderry on November 7, 1970), John McCullagh (bass), and Kevin Traynor (drums). In addition to his work with Divine Comedy, Hannon has composed the themes for the popular British TV shows Father Ted and The IT Crowd, and has collaborated with Pugwash's Thomas Walsh under the moniker the Duckworth Lewis Method. Subsequent outings like Absent Friends (2004), Bang Goes the Knighthood (2010), and Office Politics (2019) continued to toe the line between majestic orchestral pop and clever, irony-ridden indie rock. During the early '90s, he built up a strong cult following with a pair of idiosyncratic, critically acclaimed records before his third album, Casanova, became a mainstream success in the wake of Brit-pop's popularity. The Divine Comedy is the alias for Neil Hannon, a Northern Irish pop singer/songwriter with aspirations of becoming a chamber pop fusion of Scott Walker, Morrissey, and Electric Light Orchestra.

The divine comedy paintings