It has been six years since Bang goes the Knighthood, and while he’s been busy flexing other creative muscles (operas, a piece for organ – now, now), Neil Hannon inhabits a remarkable space when it comes to Divine Comedy.
Detractors point to his wry and suave bearing, as if such characteristics diminish his work, but when he successfully underpins these (which he regularly does here) with songs that explicitly reference the extraordinariness of the ordinary (falling in love, staying in love, celebrating love in close-knit domestic situations), then you simply have to stand back in admiration.
Fact: songs such as How can you leave me on my Own, Other People, and My happy Place (and several other beauties) are first-rate examples of contemplative, classic pop music.
The cap is duly doffed, sir.
