School recorders sounding mellow and slinky?! (Regeneration - Divine Comedy)

Member Name: ClareNorris

Product:	Regeneration - Divine Comedy
Date:	07/04/01 (10 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Stunning songwriting

Disadvantages: Maybe not for everyone

The Divine Comedy are accused of many things - being too pretentious or conversely, too light-hearted, too cheesy, too amusing, too depressing, for using too many orchestral sounds or just for being plain weird. These have all combined in the past to make The Divine Comedy an acquired taste, one for those people who know about the construction of music and its complexities.

But, a lot has been spoken about this new album and how it removes many of those misgivings held by those who haven't been caught up in their previous work. However, I don't particularly care what people have to say about that because I believe this is a beautiful album, with a quality that sets it high above other bands.

The tracks on 'Regeneration' (as always on an album crafted by Neil Hannon) flow together as if this were a concept album and have the perfect mix of those Divine Comedy traditions - wit, sadness, social comment, up-lifting ballads and wistful objectivity. The first single to be released, 'Love what you do' is a gorgeous mix of musical textures and

Neil Hannon is one of the few people who can write a love song that doesn't make me feel sick. 'Perfect lovesong' is a sublime example of how a love song can be heart-felt, genuine, sometimes witty, always sincere and how it can truly capture what it feels like to love someone. This is something pop bands will never capture in their bland monotony of false-truths-to-music patterns.

The other songs that stand out for particular mentions are 'Mastermind' (a delightful reinforcement of every person's right to be different and an individual, with a chord sequence that twists your musical soul) and 'Beauty Regime' (emphasising a well-worn but vital reminder of the self-deprecating culture we inhabit) both reassuring me that the lyrics of Divine Comedy songs are always as important as the music itself (something I rarely feel with the majority of thi
ngs I hear)

The Divine Comedy are not conventional, and I willingly accept, not everyone's cup of tea. But they are mine and I think they'd appeal to a far greater range of people if only their album tracks were heard more freely.

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