FEATURE:
It’ll Make You Smile
The Divine Comedy’s Fin De Siècle at Twenty-Five
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MAYBE not the…
most celebrated and finest album from Neil Hannon’s The Divine Comedy, Fin De Siècle is an album I still think is underrated. I argued that it deserves a second spin back in 2021. I am going to update that feature and bring one or two new things in. As the album turns twenty-five on 31st August, it is a good time to explore it once more. The sixth studio album from The Divine Comedy was a commercial success in the U.K. Arriving a year after the more acclaimed A Short Album About Love, I think most people know Fin De Siècle because of the fantastic single, National Express. That single was released in January 1999. I always wonder why it was not the lead single. Maybe it would have meant that the album charted even higher. The first single from the album, Generation Sex, came out a month after Fin De Siècle. Produced by Jon Jacobs and Neil Hannon, I have a lot of love for Fin De Siècle. After the release of A Short Album About Love, Hannon started to demo new material at his flat in south London. It was a tense time, as relationships between The Divine Comedy and their label, Setanta Records, were stained. There were arguments around studio time and touring costs. An album about life in the twentieth century. I think Hannon was in a mood to shift away from anything The Divine Comedy had done. Fin De Siècle was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry in 1998. National Express was certified silver in 2021. Neil Hannon was listening to Jacques Brel’s which he thought had "ten perfect tracks". That inspired the start of Fin De Siècle. I want to get to a few articles and reviews of an excellent album that has never quite got the credit it deserves. Because it is twenty-five soon, I would urge people to check it out.
I am going to start with We Are Cult. They wrote about the mighty and magnificent Fin De Siècle for its twentieth anniversary in 2018. I think that it should be held in higher esteem. It is not simply a case of the album being about National Express and nothing else. There is so much brilliance to be found on The Divine Comedy’s final studio album of the 1990s:
“The manifesto of combining the arcane with the topical is established instantly as Generation Sex opens with a harpsichord accompanying the voice of Katie Puckrik. Quoting a guest from The Jerry Springer Show, a cheerful but damning examination of modern superficiality is launched with the phrase, ‘I mean, it’s the ‘90s!’
Minor controversy was also stirred by the song also making reference to the death of Princess Diana, whose fatal accident took place exactly a year before the album’s release.
The album exhilaratingly cracks on with the hymn to hedonism that is Thrillseeker, before slowing down with the sweeping and heart-wrenching Commuter Love. Here, the orchestral arrangement of long-term Hannon collaborator Joby Talbot transports the listener from a Waterloo platform to a Viennese ballroom, where our protagonist imagines his epochal romance with the unknowing object of his gaze. For me this is the stand-out track of the album, one of Hannon’s all-time greatest, and why it was not released as a single I will never understand.
After the Wagnerian and Pythonesque Sweden, the album comes to a thoughtful interlude with the sleepy ‘Eric the Gardener’ before launching into Hannon’s singalong hit, National Express. It was this song which gave The Divine Comedy their top-ten single, one of what Hannon would later describe as, ‘Not so much a one-hit wonder as [part of] a series of one-hit wonders.’
The album’s second half returns to those lavish drawing rooms of Vienna with the stirring Life on Earth. After which, the haunting The Certainty of Chance leaves the listener horrified for the future as Hannon contemplates the undirected chaos of our world while Talbot’s orchestration evokes a freezing, post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Here Comes the Flood does not give respite, as ‘the race to end all races’ is announced in a narration from Dexter Fletcher. A West Side Story-style choral piece, the only question that remains for a media-fixated humanity is which factor will be that which finally destroys us?
And yet, finally, we are reminded that there is hope. In Sunrise, Hannon ends the album on a joyous, uplifting and contemporary note, marking the long-awaited emergence of peace in his native Northern Ireland.
As well as marking the end of an historical era, Fin de Siècle would also signal a new age for The Divine Comedy. After releasing A Secret History: The Best of The Divine Comedy the following year, Hannon would part ways with Setanta Records and move to Parlophone. A more contemporary indie sound and casual look – the band until now had always performed in suits – was experimented with in 2002’s Regeneration, but subsequent releases returned to the formula which had been most successful.
Happy in his self-made niche and with a dedicated fanbase, Hannon continues to tour and should definitely be caught if possible. An affable, shy and funny frontman, his voice and manner can never fail to bring cheer.
Looking back at Fin de Siècle from our vantage point now, deep into the twenty-first century, we can appreciate its unease at what lay ahead. We may no longer worry about the Millennium Bug or El Niño as the harbingers of our destruction but our fear of disaster, fuelled by a new and even more pervasive media, has only been heightened since that time. Perhaps the cycle of change has not yet been completed”.
Back Seat Mafia have a Not Forgotten feature. They shine new light on an album that others might have overlooked. I feel that twenty-five years after its release, people need to listen to Fin De Siècle:
“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.
The best album for the Divine Comedy novice is still the brilliant A Secret History: Best of the Divine Comedy, but once you’ve had chance to digest and come to love The Divine Comedy for the brilliant act that they were, Fin de Siècle should be your next port of call”.
I am going to finish with a positive review. Assessing the album in 2019, Sputnikmusic wrote why Fin De Siecle is an incredible work that deserves some respect and greater affection. They make some interesting observations in their review. I heard the album when it came out in 1998. I still think that it is as good as the day it came out:
“1998 saw Neil Hannon at the peak of his fame. The success of the Casanova LP, collaborations with Robbie Williams and his witty interactions with the British press had made him into a notable popstar. The release of the comedic sing-along anthem 'The National Express' had even given the band their first top ten UK single. Sadly, it was to be the only top ten single of The Divine Comedy's career.
The pressure was also on to deliver a worthy successor to the breakout smash that was Casanova. Generally speaking, people wanted more of the same foppish comedy that had made that record so much fun. Unfortunately, the subsequent album Fin De Siecle rarely played for laughs, supplanting them instead with a loose concept of pre-millennial angst. This confused a lot of the casual Britpop fans and hastened the band's decent down the ever fickle popularity ladder.
That's a real shame because Fin De Siecle is an excellent record. Keeping the huge orchestral flourishes featured on their previous release, A Short Album About Love, most of the songs feel properly epic and bombastic. This bombast is at it's best and funniest during the mid album 'Sweden'. Neil Hannon recounts a laundry list of reasons why he would like to retire in Sweden as the orchestra thunders around him, playing something akin to a desperate hell march. The simple subject matter of the lyrics and the overblown backing are completely at odds with each other, which makes it absolutely hilarious. The orchestra is used to great effect elsewhere too, with the singles 'Generation Sex' and 'The Certainty Of Chance' both featuring impressive closing instrumental sections.
Another non-orchestral highlight comes in the form of the truly beautiful ballad 'Commuter Love'. Over a slowly intesifying guitar buildup, Hannon tells of his secret obsession with a girl who rides on the same train to work as he does. As his fantasy for them reaches it's cressendo ("We could be prince and princess in my dreams") so does the music, suddenly erupting in an achingly emotional guitar solo. During a triumphant final chorus Hannon bellows the conclusion to his tale of secret passion; "She doesn't know I exist / I'm going to keep it like this / Not going to take any risks this time". It's a truly brilliant track and one of the band's greatest ballads.
However, the best song on the LP is the album's heart wrenching closer 'Sunrise'. Over a sublime harpsicord and guitar backing, Neil takes you on a tour of his experience growing up in the politically troubled Northern Ireland. lyrics like "I was born in Londonderry / I was born in Derry City too / Oh what a special child / To see such things and still to smile" and "I grew up in Enniskillen / I grew up Innis Ceithleann too / Oh what a clever boy / To see your hometown be destroyed" really hit hard as the beautiful backing music gains momentum. The saddest moment comes as Hannon forlornly comments on his own childhood innocence; "I knew that there was something wrong / But I kept my head down and carried on". It makes for an absolutely stunning closing track.
There isn't much to say in the way of negative criticism about Fin De Siecle. 'Life On Earth' comes the closest to being filler, with it's Parisian café vibes feeling pleasant yet inconsequential in the grander scheme of things. Also, the extended instrumental outro on the rather eccentric 'Eric The Gardner' doesn't really go anywhere. But that's about it.
Ultimately, Fin De Siecle is a superb addition to The Divine Comedy's discography. it captures the band at their peak of popularity and classical bombast. The record is filled with memorable lyrics, sweeping compositions, catchy choruses and has a cohesive artistic concept behind it. If intelligent chamber pop is your cup of tea, you really can't afford to miss out on this fantastic record”.
Twenty-five on 31st August, Fin De Siecle demonstrates Neil Hannon’s unique and wonderful songwriting. One of the most expressive, fascinating and witty voices in music, the way he observes and documents modern life is always memorable and powerful. Take a moment to take a trip on Fin De Siecle. I guarantee that it…
IT will make you smile.