One of the inevitabilities of their being such a wide breadth of music being available is that occasionally good things will completely escape your notice. I remember when Bang Goes the Knighthood came out. I remember seeing reviews for it in magazines and blogs and yet, I can't remember why I didn't ever give it a listen. Until recently when utilizing the expansive music library of Spotify, where I suddenly remembered the album by the British chamber pop band The Divine Comedy.
In retrospect, Bang Goes the Knighthood is an album that was incredibly relevant to my interests. At the time of it's release I was really into instrumental rock, pop, and folk. And Bang Goes the Knighthood, more or less, is exactly that- The arrangements have as much importance as the lyrics, the orchestra a wonderful compliment Neil Hannon's dulcet vocals. The sounds are full, bold, and inviting as well as richly complex and wonderfully layered. Add in the fact that Hannon sometimes conjures up a very cabaret style and you have an album that's delightfully anachronistic.
Considering Neil Hannon has been making music since before I was born, I shouldn't be at all surprised at what a triumph Bang Goes the Knighthood is. And yet, Hannon's style is so melodically driven, so artfully cinematic that all you can do is listen on in awe all the while gently bobbing your head. Some of the reviews I read rather negatively stated that Bang Goes the Knighthood offers up more of the same as The Divine Comedy's previous releases. To that I have to say: Would you fix something so impressively unbroken?
Get a taste of The Divine Comedy with the humorous and silly new video for "I Like":
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