FEATURE:
Second Spin
The Divine Comedy - Fin de Siècle
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I first discovered The Divine Comedy…
when they released their third studio album, Promenade, in 1994. The band is essentially Neil Hannon and a rotation of musicians. I love Hannon’s songwriting and perspective and, by the time Fin de Siècle arrived in 1998, I was properly invested! The sixth studio album, Fin de Siècle followed the remarkable A Short Album About Love. I think many consider Fin de Siècle to be the weakest album from The Divine Comedy to that point. The album peaked at number-nine in the U.K. It is a great and rounded work that is very rewarding and interesting. I wanted to include it here as it remains underrated and underappreciated. I am going to bring in a couple of reviews soon but, before then, I wonder why some dismissed it or felt it was weaker than previous albums from The Divine Comedy. The first single, Generation Sex, was released on 14th September, 1998, and it typically humorous and incredibly smart! I think it is one of the best songs from The Divine Comedy but it is the huge hit, National Express, that people associate with Fin de Siècle. Released on 25th January, 1999, I remember buying the single and really loving it – I had heard it on the radio a lot and was hooked by its catchiness! Many critics felt that Neil Hannon was sneering at the working-class population and being classist.
In fact, National Express was his observations from using the coach service and typical scenes that many of us would also have witnessed – nothing in the way of taking a shot at those less-well-off! Away from those singles, there is plenty of quality to be found. With ten tracks, there is very little wastage. Thrillseeker is a magnificent song, whilst I love the grandeur of Sweden. Here Comes the Flood is stirring and contains some of Hannon’s most biblical and memorable images. Although Fin de Siècle does not scale the same heights as 1996’s Casanova, I do think that it is primed for re-evaluation. This is what AllMusic wrote in their review:
“The songs on Fin de Siècle, though pleasant, don't quite scale the heights Neil Hannon has before: nothing is as arresting as A Short Album About Love's "In Pursuit of Happiness," though "Commuter Love," the grandiose, wind-swept "The Certainty of Chance," and especially the rainy-day funeral song "Life on Earth" make attempts, as does the song that jumps out at you the most, in line with Hannon's past work, "Sweden." Its '60s-movie oom-pah pomp and bombast that introduces each verse is fabulous. But otherwise, Hannon's done better. More unfortunate, Jon Jacobs' engineering seems fine, but his mix is convoluted, muted, as if Hannon's wry voice and the various lugubrious blends of sounds Jobi Talbot scores -- of woodwinds, brass, strings, guitar, and timpani-like drums -- were all trapped in a sandwich bag, fighting to get out where ears are.
Where such mellifluous tones should tickle, tease, dazzle, and sometimes outright startle, outside of those yelping parts of "Sweden," it's all a little muffled. Still, it's hard to stop laughing at Hannon's suit-wearing, minor send-up of the storied English gentleman, like a man who is a playboy jet-setter but also affects uptight, fastidious manners. And there's still much to swing on here. Talbot is a fabulously imaginative arranger -- surely the LP's biggest saving grace -- and Hannon's songs thus seem to spiral toward dramatic conclusion no matter what. Best of all, Fin de Siècle largely diminishes the Scott Walker whispers that have shadowed his every move, if not actually erasing them. In the end, Hannon is the one you want at your party, sitting at an end table, smoking, drinking your most expensive booze, slyly winking at the ladies, and sizing up the crowd like an international spy. Give the man his due, style is his middle name. You can bet he's got unbelievable chat-up lines”.
Twenty-three years after its release, and I think that Fin de Siècle has a lot going for it. The songwriting is mature and consistently engaging. Hannon manages to mix humour, deep emotions and flights of fancy seamlessly. I think his voice is as rich and powerful as ever. Perhaps a lot of people argue whether National Express is a song that jabs at the working classes, but I don’t think it does. It is a classic from The Divine Comedy that one cannot help but sing along with.
Back Seat Mafia highlighted and reassessed Fin de Siècle back in 2014:
“Neil Hannon (the man who effectively is The Divine Comedy), cut a unique dash through the British music in the mid 90s, as his almost imperceptible rise to near-fame ran parallel to the Brit-pop movement, meant that he sometimes got lumped in with the unwashed masses.
Foppish, louche and possessing a more sophisticated musical mind than his more straight-forward peers, Hannon had built himself a career by stealth. Every studio album was just a little better than the last, with a few more sales and with his minor coup of getting the job of writing the theme music for Father Ted, Hannon’s music had found it’s way into the hearts and minds of music fans who recognised a classy tune when they heard one.
Yet still a proper ‘hit’ single eluded The Divine Comedy. When Fin de Siècle was released in 1998, there were the usual modest sales, but it looked as though they were still as far away from mainstream success as ever. Then came the freak (some would say ‘novelty’) hit that was “National Express” and suddenly The Divine Comedy were enjoying airplay and top-ten singles.
As it happens, though it’s a fine pop-tune, “National Express” is one of the lesser tracks on Fin de Siècle. From the majesty of “Life on Earth” and “The Certainty of Chance” to the admire-from-afar style romance of “Commuter Love”, to the social commentary of “Generation Sex”, Fin de Siècle is a well rounded and mature album, a world away from those that were making guitar singalongs for the hard-of-thinking. Particularly impressive is the faux-Bond Theme that is “Thrillseeker”, which finds Hannon in particularly bombastic vocal form and the strangely compelling “Sweden”. The weak point of the album is the over-stretched “Eric the Gardener”, which could have been a cracking tune, if only it’s duration had been halved.
In many ways, Fin de Siècle is The Divine Comedy’s most diverse and fully-realised album. After this they had a big hit with a compilation, national embarrassment Robbie Williams claimed they were his favourite band for a full week, they lost their way a little and have been spending the last five years trying to regain the heady heights of 1998 and 1999”.
If you have not heard Fin de Siècle, then seek the album out and I guarantee that you will enjoy it! It is such a broad album, one will find a song that suits them. Maybe The Divine Comedy released better albums, yet I maintain Fin de Siècle is a masterful work with a lot to love. I think I bought the album when it came out in 1998, and it was great hearing songs that I had not heard and discovering a new side to Neil Hannon and his songwriting. Fin de Siècle is an underrated and discussed album that I am happy to play…
TIME and time again.