Comic monologue

"Bands," Mercury Rev will have warned Neil Hannon. "Those funny little plans / That never work quite right..."

So, you will have heard the news: the Divine Comedy is a one-man show once more. Anyone who has been following the movements of the boy Hannon from the earliest, pre-Casanova days however - as many of his Irish fans will have done - will have doubtlessly twigged that, regardless of whether the Divine Comedy are accompanied by orchestras, writing film music or collaborating with Michael Nyman, Neil Hannon has always been - let's not mince words - the sole man behind the curtain.

To wish Mr H well, and to celebrate the start of Divine Comedy, Mk 3 off with a bang, Hot Press presents a video interview filmed shortly after the release of their sixth album, Regeneration... whiich just happens to be full of now-poignant remarks to the effect that, oh indeed yes, working within a seven-piece band is a very wonderful thing.

Go on... keep Neil company for a while.

VIDEO INTERVIEW: Click below on the bit you want to watch...

PART ONE Why Regeneration is the "band album" that the Divine Comedy have always wanted to make; and Neil Hannon on his own love-hate relationship with flying solo on past albums ("I loved it, and you get a tremendous feeling of satisfaction, but it takes forever and you go mad in the process") 56k 128k

PART TWO The recording of Regeneration: keyboardist Stuart 'Pinkie' Bates explains why producer Nigel ('Kid A') Godrich frequently asked them to "play worse" 56k 128k

PART THREE We hope you like our new direction: Is Regeneration the Divine Comedy's Kid A? "As long as I'm writing the songs," says Neil, "it's always going to sound like the Divine Comedy to me" 56k 128k

PART FOUR Liberation? Neil on how ditching his trademark suit was both wonderful and bloody terrifying 56k 128k

PART FIVE The simple life: How Neil's personal life has him settled down in more ways than one; and Pinkie and Neil on how - in studio - less is definitely more 56k 128k

PART SIX Neil recalls fopping around for the NME ("Never again!") and hopping from Setanta to Parlophone ("We had outgrown each other") 56k 128k