A divine view of love (A Short Album About Love - Divine Comedy)

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Product:	A Short Album About Love - Divine Comedy
Date:	04/04/01 (96 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The Divine Comedy's unique sound and Neil Hannon's witty lyrics

Disadvantages: Lives up to "Short" title

After having ignored the Divine Comedy for a while, with the recent release of their new album 'Regeneration' I decided to get a few of their older albums off the shelf and dust them off a little and play them again. The first one I started listening to again was 'A short album about love'. It's possibly the album in their back catalogue that matches the mood of the current album most accurately. It's happy and sad in roughly equal measure, being about being in a relationship, falling out of relationships, getting into them and trying to get into them.

Trying to describe this album, or indeed any Divine Comedy album is a difficult task - they are indie, they're not rock and they write some cracking tunes, but they're not pop. Classical indie I suppose would be the best description, I don't know what that conjures up in your head, but if you stripped away some of the more classical instruments and strings, I guess you'd be left with some type of acoustic indie music. They're the type of band that when you try and describe them to someone, they'll just look at you like you're loopy, the best way to describe them for me is to actually listen to them!

This album, like any Divine Comedy album is built from the lyrics up. Neil Hannon has always written some sharp, witty tunes, and this album is no exception to that rule. In this album, they veer away from the more story-type lyrics of Casanova, to a set of lyrics more from the heart. They might be about a more serious issue this time, but it doesn't stop him poking fun at himself, and it's that wry look at love that makes this album so good.

Musically, it's more up-tempo than the new Regeneration album, the songs have a more upbeat feel to them, and they are less heavy and sombre to listen to. Even the ones that deal with the more depressing side of love have an almost happy tinge to them, and the album is definitely easier to lis
ten to than the newer one. With that in mind it might be a better bet for buying as an introduction to the Divine Comedy if you haven't heard them before.

In Pursuit of Happiness
Opening with some sombre blasts of a horn section, this soon picks up a bit of pace with an acoustic guitar, piano and castanets before the rest of the band kick in. After the opening few bars, when the song seems depressing and dark, the song soon builds up a lot of momentum before it tumbles into an instrumental close to the song, which you might recognise as the opening theme music to Tomorrows World. The layering of so many instruments over each other could have been messy, but they complement each other works for the song really well, giving it a lot of life and plenty of sounds to listen for. The content of the song is about falling into love, wanting to be with someone when you?re not sure if not they want the same thing with you. As an opening track it really sets the score for the rest of the album.

Everybody Knows (except you)
The only single to be lifted off the album, it's another song about unrequited love, about telling everyone that he loves this girl except the girl herself, and how he's going to tell her if it's the last thing he does. I?m not a great fan of the lyrics on this song, it sounds a little to me as if he's trying to hard to get a rhyme out of the lines as well as being funny and sometimes it just doesn't hit it off. The song is a little more sedate, quieter and slower than the one that's gone before it, the drums taking a quieter role in the proceedings and more emphasis going on the vocals, guitars and strings. The guitar is mainly acoustic, as in most Divine Comedy work, and the strings are very light and sprightly throughout the song and add a little zest to the proceeding, especially during the chorus where a bit of life is kicked into the song and it speeds up a little. My favourite part would be the ech
oing backing vocals throughout the song, and a few bah-bahs near the end to give it that trademark Divine Comedy shine. Musically it's great, but I feel the lyrics let it down slightly. The tune is the most radio-friendly of the songs on the album, and it's not hard to see why it was chosen as the single.

Someone
We lapse into a slightly darker and more sombre song with this much more sedate song. Mainly driven by a very simple piano tune and the acoustic guitar and some minimal strings, with some very quiet percussion going on in the background. The main focus of the song is the vocals, which come across very clear and rich, the whole song has a very simplistic sound overall, it never really gets past walking speed or takes any unexpected twists or turns. It's possibly my least favourite song on the album, but as the songs here are all excellent, it isn?t that bad a criticism. The lyrical content is about realising that he can't really make it through life without someone to love, and as the song goes progresses towards its finish, it comes more and more from the heart, which gives the song some extra character as Hannon's voice really exudes passion, makes you know exactly how he's feeling. The longest song on the album, running towards six minutes, I feel it's a bit bloated, going into an powerful instrumental near the end which is doesn't really need, as the vocals during the song really pass the message in the lyrics over to me without the need for any extra emphasis.

If...
This is definitely my favourite track on the album. Very slow, deliberate and simple, mostly driven again by the piano and Hannon's wonderful vocals, with some simple strings in the background. Part of the appeal of this song is the way it grows as it progresses as it goes on - lyrically the song is very intelligent, about all the things he would do, say and even become for this girl. This song demonstrates Hannon?s lyrics to full
effect, being very witty and well thought out - the things he describes seem superficial and even stupid but if you think about them, you'll see how sweet they are and how much this girl means to him. The best thing about the song is the way the music underlines the lyrics, growing more powerful as the song progresses, the feeling grow and the tasks he'd perform become larger - the drums get slightly heavier, the strings more prominent and there's more life from the acoustic guitar. The whole song ebbs and flows, gradually getting heavier and heavier until it ends in a swell of strings and heavy piano before suddenly cutting out. It really is a very sublime song, well thought out and written.

If I Were You (I'd Be Through With Me)
This is another personal highlight of the album. Slightly more lively that the previous song, it's a strange subject for a song, about not believing in himself to such an extent that he believes his girlfriend is better off without him, detailing all the things he does that would make him finish with himself if he was in his girlfriend's position. For such a depressing subject, the sound is very uplifting, making great use of the piano and strings to built the song up to a little crescendo of sound, before snapping and going to a more melodic and gentle chorus rather than just breaking altogether. This change of pace really works well and suits the whole song well, it doesn't make it too harsh or difficult to listen to, you want to listen for some more. The sound is very clean and pure, something to be enjoyed rather than endured. The end of the song is the best ending on the whole album, everything building up one final time, before ending on a whisper.

Timewatching
This is the darkest and most sombre track on the album, full of heavy violins and strings. This befits the song, as it is a sad and depressing subject, about never wanting to fall in love again because it could be forever
, and he isn't sure if he can commit like that. The whole song is about a fear of committing oneself to something that is permanent, but that in the end, it will come, and the end will only be brought about by time, yet realising at the same time how he needs love to get through life. The song is very simple, being only the strings and vocals, and again Hannon's vocals are used to their full ability hear, using his full range of passion and expression to create the moody and quite intimidating atmosphere. It's certainly the most powerful song on the album, I really like it booming when I feel down myself, the song has an air of resignation to inevitability about it, that everything is out of his hands and he can't do anything about it, which gives me some hope that sometime life will get better.

I'm all you need
After that dark and sombre track, the album closes with this more upbeat and positive song, closing the album with a smile on your face and a spring in your step. Possibly one of the more simple songs on the album, with hardly strings to speak of, just guitars, drums, keyboard and vocals, the whole song has a bit of pace and speed to it that has been lacking really throughout most of the album. After opening by looking for happiness, it looks like he has finally found someone who can provide it and the happiness in the song matches the lyrics, which tell us that he's all this girl needs, there's no need to let trivial things to get in the way when they could have so much love and happiness together. The whole song is layered well, gathering pace throughout, and adding a few well-chosen strings at the end to highlight the jubilant mood that love can bring. This song draws a close to a really enjoyable album in great fashion.

This will always be one of my favourite Divine Comedy albums - the way it sums up neatly the emotions that love puts you through is a nice touch, and a whole album (albeit a short one) the
med around the topic is a great one. Weighing in at just over half an hour, it isn't the longest of albums, but believe me it's well worth a look, especially if you're looking to get into the Divine Comedy and the newest album sounds a little intimidating. It isn't hard to get into, I enjoyed it right from the moment I started to listen to it, and it's getting quite a lot of play on my stereo at the minute. Just wish I had the love to go with it!

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