New Divine Comedy album in 2009

Eeeeexcellent.

The new album has been described as a mix between the styles of the two previous studio albums, Melody A.M. and The Understanding, and features Robyn, Lykke Li, Karin Dreijer Andersson and Anneli Drecker.

A Message from Neil:

It is with a great sense of honour and humility that I come before you today to announce the forthcoming release of possibly the least necessary album of recent years.

Ladles and Jellyspoons, I give you The Duckworth Lewis Method!!! A kaleidoscopic musical adventure through the beautiful and rather silly world of cricket.

Few have attempted to encapsulate the King of Sports in song. None have succeeded. UNTIL NOW!!

Mr Duckworth and myself have dedicated ourselves to this end, and I'm delighted to announce that we are on the verge of a fabled alchemy.

So go and get your pads on, take your place in the sun, and salivate in expectation for the sound of Summer '09:

THE DUCKWORTH LEWIS METHOD!

More coming soon!


The Duckworth Lewis Method is a project conceived by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash in their spare moments to celebrate their mutual enjoyment of cricket.
Mr Duckworth and Mr Lewis would like to make it clear that this mad yet utterly enjoyable album will be separate to their own endeavours in the musical world - in other words, yes there will be two albums from Neil this year- this and a Divine Comedy one.

Tremendous.

Yay! Two albums ... even if one IS about cricket

New Divine Comedy album in 2009

Eeeeexcellent.

Röyksopp's new LP Junior is released 23rd March. If the tip-top new single "Happy Up Here" is anything to go by it could be a stormer.

Sounds promising.

"When Miley grows up, she'll learn not to have such a sense of entitlement."

Yay! Two albums ... even if one IS about cricket

Whenever the Music Fix Editor hands me the latest album by a singer-songwriter my heart generally sinks to my boots; I just find it hard to empathise with the self obsessed, musically moribund fare that is generally on offer. There’s always an exception to any rule of course and, for me, it has always been John Martyn that succeeded in confounding the rule book, usually by getting it really pissed on Cointreau. Realistically though, what are the chances of Dan Arborise filling Martyn’s boot?

Well, Arborise is certainly an outsider, a man literally living on the edge; the edge of this sceptred isle that is. His first album was recorded whilst he and his wife were living off the land in the wilds of Scotland and now Of Tide and Trail has been crafted on the less remote Devon coast where he’s decamped with wife and child. Unlike Martyn though, Arborise seems to be comfortable in his own skin. He may instinctively pursue a remote existence but in his artwork at least he’s relentlessly positive, and when in I Live he exclaims isn’t life wonderful there’s not a hint of irony. He may not share Martyn’s demons but he certainly does have his talent for crafting gorgeous, sweeping soundscapes with nothing more than a guitar and an Echoplex. Add to that his honeysweet vocals and you’ve really got a recipe for something exceptional.

This is an album, and it really is an holistic album rather than a collection of tracks, which draws the listener in deep to a utopian, coastal idyll; a virtual escape hatch from the mundane, stressful reality of urban existence. Arborise is working with nature here and deftly employs the organic rhythms and tempos of the tide and body, with the result that you can actually feel your heart rate decline in concert with the album. Of Tide and Trail should really be available on the National Health as it represents the perfect antidote to the rat-race; not a single note is hurried and every phrase is afforded time and space to breathe. Songs which in other hands might have withered after 3 minutes are, here, allowed to linger and mature.

Arborise may now be making his music in Devon but this recording shares little in common with the English folk tradition, instead drawing inspiration as it does from the semi-bardic Incredible String Band (My Child) and the ambient guitar work of Daniel Lanois or Micheal Brooke (Cries). Indeed there are elements of the album, in particular the 9 minute epic closing track Feet in the Sea, Head in the Stars which could be mistaken for a less bombastic and self important Joshua Tree. Quite simply, this album is revelatory and won’t be straying far from my stereo for quite some time; a definite candidate for my album of the year so far.

More great news. Dan Arborise (once described as Nick Drake for the 21st Century) is releasing a new album this month.

Speech Debelle... what's she all about then?

I heard the track The Key (I think) on Adam and Joe at the weekend and liked it very much. I'll certainly look into her work, but I also liked the brief snippet of The Invisible, so will keep my ears open for them too.

Speech Debelle... what's she all about then?

I've only heard one or two songs but not impressed at all.

Florence woz robbed.

Robbie Williams will pick up the outstanding contribution award at The Brits next February. I like Robbie but it does seem a bit premature.


However, the bigger issue for me is that it means Madness have been looked over yet again for this award. This should've been their year, especially after releasing possibly one of their best albums of a 30 year plus career.

...his selection seems more than a little contrived to me.

Do people know about this?

http://bleep.com/index.php?page=release_de...releaseid=18187

Of course. On The Hour has been out on CD for a year or more. I thought you knew, good sir?

Damn, I had no idea. Lovely packaging, I'm going to have to buy it, despite owning your lovely pirated versions all these years.

Ack, soz 'bout that. Would've given you the heads-up had I realised. Glad the copies served you well though. And you will love the full packaging, it is tops.

Didn't you do some complilation of tracks used for Blue Jam or am I making up things in my mind?

Aye. I spent the best part of a decade tracking down all the music used throughout all 18 episodes, compiling a painstaking list as I went. With the exception of about a dozen songs, it's complete. Set up a dedicated group at Last.FM, having tagged all the streamable tracks there. Rory's joined the group, he knows. Maybe.