Qobuz Store wallpaper
Categories:
Cart 0

Your cart is empty

The Divine Comedy|Liberation (2020 Reissue)

Liberation (2020 Reissue)

The Divine Comedy

Available in
24-Bit/48 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Subscribe

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

Jettisoning the rest of the band but keeping the name, Neil Hannon as the Divine Comedy becomes as art pop as it gets with his first full album, but with an extreme Englishness that even Ray Davies might be hard-pressed to keep up with. Liberation is mostly a self-composed and performed release, aside from a couple of string players, a French horn performer, and a drummer, plus a song lyric borrowed from Wordsworth, giving "Lucy" a crisp, gentle rock recasting here. Otherwise it's Hannon's hyper-elegant show all the way, practically begging to be equally played in a Victorian drawing room, at a swank '20s club, at a swinging beautiful people party in London, or at an end-of-the-century Britpop disco. Slightly more rock/poppy tunes like "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" groove along with MOR backing vocals and understated energy, while others pile on the artsy touches: the harpsichord underlying the entirety of "Death of a Supernaturalist" and the mournful string arrangement that provides all of the music on "Timewatching." A few songs rock in a more straightforward manner, but often only just so: "I Was Born Yesterday" interrupts its persistent pounding with a spoken word break referring to ballerinas and standing en pointe while a cello plays; the acoustic guitar-based "Victoria Falls" has a fragile, frosty feeling to it. Hannon, meanwhile, belies his Northern Ireland upbringing to an astounding degree with his clipped, toff singing style. As for subject matter, Hannon tackles everything from borrowing "Your Daddy's Car" to the jaunty, XTC-inspired "The Pop Star's Fear of the Pollen Count," slipping in as much wry humor as he does gentle pathos and reflection -- plenty of all three. "Europop" is particularly sharp -- a self-descriptive new wave synth-plus-guitar dance tune with rather lugubrious vocals from Hannon, reflecting on everything from science and finance to the strange nature of love.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo

More info

Liberation (2020 Reissue)

The Divine Comedy

launch qobuz app I already downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS Open

download qobuz app I have not downloaded Qobuz for Windows / MacOS yet Download the Qobuz app

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From $10.83/month

1
Festive Road (2020 remaster)
00:01:54

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

2
Death Of A Supernaturalist (2020 remaster)
00:03:16

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

3
Bernice Bobs Her Hair (2020 remaster)
00:04:02

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

4
I Was Born Yesterday (2020 remaster)
00:03:26

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

5
Your Daddy's Car (2020 remaster)
00:03:55

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

6
Europop (2020 remaster)
00:04:31

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

7
Timewatching (2020 remaster)
00:03:49

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

8
The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count (2020 remaster)
00:04:20

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

9
Queen of the South (2020 remaster)
00:04:26

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

10
Victoria Falls (2020 remaster)
00:04:09

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

11
Three Sisters (2020 remaster)
00:04:41

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

12
Europe by Train (2020 remaster)
00:04:26

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

13
Lucy (2020 remaster)
00:04:41

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

DISC 2

1
Untitled Melody
00:02:02

Edwyn Collins, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

2
Your Daddy's Car (Demo)
00:03:53

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

3
Queen of the South (Demo)
00:04:07

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

4
Europop (Live)
00:04:10

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

5
Little Darlin'
00:01:25

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

6
Bernice Bobs Her Hair (Early Idea)
00:02:57

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

7
Bontempi Beats 1
00:02:29

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

8
The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count (Demo)
00:04:19

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

9
Europe by Train (Live)
00:04:59

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

10
I Can Think (But I Can't Feel)
00:02:59

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

11
Lucy (Early Version)
00:04:02

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

12
Festive Road (Demo)
00:02:10

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

13
Three Sisters (Live)
00:04:11

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

14
I Was Born Yesterday (Early Idea)
00:03:09

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

15
Bontempi Beats 2
00:02:55

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

16
Christmas With The Hannons
00:02:28

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

17
Victoria Falls (Demo)
00:04:11

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

18
Timewatching (Demo)
00:03:31

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

19
Bontempi Beats 3
00:02:29

Neil Hannon, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

20
Suzanne (Live)
00:03:30

Leonard Cohen, Composer - The Divine Comedy, MainArtist

2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd 2020 Divine Comedy Records Ltd

Album review

Jettisoning the rest of the band but keeping the name, Neil Hannon as the Divine Comedy becomes as art pop as it gets with his first full album, but with an extreme Englishness that even Ray Davies might be hard-pressed to keep up with. Liberation is mostly a self-composed and performed release, aside from a couple of string players, a French horn performer, and a drummer, plus a song lyric borrowed from Wordsworth, giving "Lucy" a crisp, gentle rock recasting here. Otherwise it's Hannon's hyper-elegant show all the way, practically begging to be equally played in a Victorian drawing room, at a swank '20s club, at a swinging beautiful people party in London, or at an end-of-the-century Britpop disco. Slightly more rock/poppy tunes like "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" groove along with MOR backing vocals and understated energy, while others pile on the artsy touches: the harpsichord underlying the entirety of "Death of a Supernaturalist" and the mournful string arrangement that provides all of the music on "Timewatching." A few songs rock in a more straightforward manner, but often only just so: "I Was Born Yesterday" interrupts its persistent pounding with a spoken word break referring to ballerinas and standing en pointe while a cello plays; the acoustic guitar-based "Victoria Falls" has a fragile, frosty feeling to it. Hannon, meanwhile, belies his Northern Ireland upbringing to an astounding degree with his clipped, toff singing style. As for subject matter, Hannon tackles everything from borrowing "Your Daddy's Car" to the jaunty, XTC-inspired "The Pop Star's Fear of the Pollen Count," slipping in as much wry humor as he does gentle pathos and reflection -- plenty of all three. "Europop" is particularly sharp -- a self-descriptive new wave synth-plus-guitar dance tune with rather lugubrious vocals from Hannon, reflecting on everything from science and finance to the strange nature of love.
© Ned Raggett /TiVo

About the album

Improve album information

Qobuz logo Why buy on Qobuz?

On sale now...

Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz

Getz/Gilberto Stan Getz

Moanin'

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Moanin' Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

Blue Train

John Coltrane

Blue Train John Coltrane

Live In Europe

Melody Gardot

Live In Europe Melody Gardot
More on Qobuz
By The Divine Comedy

Charmed Life - The Best Of The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy

Charmed Life - The Best Of The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy

The Best Mistakes

The Divine Comedy

The Best Mistakes The Divine Comedy

Promenade

The Divine Comedy

Promenade The Divine Comedy

Fin De Siècle

The Divine Comedy

Fin De Siècle The Divine Comedy
You may also like...

Wall Of Eyes

The Smile

Wall Of Eyes The Smile

First Two Pages of Frankenstein

The National

Born To Die

Lana Del Rey

Born To Die Lana Del Rey

Ohio Players

The Black Keys

Ohio Players The Black Keys

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

Billie Eilish