Includes d/l code plus full album of bonus material. Remastered heavyweight vinyl housed in gatefold sleeve. The Divine Comedy are as superficial and pretentious as Queen (in the best sense of the term), as slick and smooth as Steely Dan and as joyous and celebratory as Björk. They are one of the unlikeliest bands around: the right band in the wrong era. They seem to belong to a more refined age of classical aesthetics, where everything sounds exactly right. They are the arranger's delight. Their songs are rather complex and filled with surprises, but pure pop nevertheless. They belong to a time when things were less complicated, when film stars were larger than life and we had reckless faith in progress. Bold and smooth. Neil Hannon's suave and effortless voice might just as well be mistaken for Frank Sinatra, forever stuck, doing Britpop. A recipe for disaster, perhaps, but The Divine Comedy serve it well, with intricate vocal harmonies, witty lyrics, bold sound production and a strong thrust forward. Originally released in 1994, Promenade was the third studio album, delving even further into the classical-influenced stylings that he had begun to explore with Liberation and bearing a loose concept about a couple spending a day at the seaside.
