The Divine Comedy announce “orchestral pop album” ‘Rainy Sunday Afternoon’ with new single ‘Achilles’ and 2025 UK tour
The Divine Comedy have shared details of a new album called ‘Rainy Sunday Afternoon’. Check out the new single ‘Achilles’ and the new tour dates below.
Announced today (April 9), the record marks the first new studio album from The Divine Comedy since they released their ‘Office Politics’ LP back in 2019. It also follows on from a re-master and re-release of their back catalogue the following year, and the ‘Charmed Life’ best-of album that came out in 2022.
Set to arrive on September 19, the new record will mark the 13th record from the band, and was recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios.
According to a new press release, the album is written, arranged and produced by Neil Hannon, and set to take an in-depth look at some of the most powerful emotions “sad, funny, angry and everything in between.”
Along with the news of the album, the band have also shared the first teaser of what fans can expect from the record – dropping the lead single ‘Achilles’.
The song encapsulates the motifs at the heart of the record, and sees Hannon embrace some of the lightheartedness that he found while writing the original songs for the hit 2023 film starring Timothée Chalamet, Wonka.
“My musical output is, for better or worse, a representation of my personality,” Neil Hannon admits. “A good chunk of that personality revels in the rumbumptious; celebrates the silly. And I made ample use of that for the Wonka songs,” he said of the release.
“I have, though, like everyone, a darker, more melancholy side. And for one reason or another it has been much in evidence of late,” Neil explains. “I needed to use this album as an outlet for those feelings. To work through some stuff. Mortality; memories; relationships; political and social upheaval. Everyone should get to make an orchestral pop album once in a while. It should be available on the NHS.”
Check out the song above and pre-order the album here.
As well as releasing new material, The Diving Comedy have also shared details of a new tour of the UK which is set to kick off this autumn.
In total, 16 shows have been added to the schedule and kick off with an opening night at the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on October 6. They continue the next night (7) with a stop at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, followed by shows in Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Sheffield, Wolverhampton and Glasgow.
Two shows are planned for London’s Barbican on October 11 and 12, and the shows wrap up with further dates in Glasgow, York, Oxford, Manchester and Brighton throughout the remainder of the month.
Tickets go on sale next Thursday (April 17) at 10am BST and can be found here. A press release states that further shows in Ireland and Europe will be announced at a later date.
The Divine Comedy’s UK 2025 tour dates are:
OCTOBER
6 – Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
7 – Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
8 – Bath, Forum
10 – Gateshead, The Glasshouse
11 – London, Barbican
12 – London, Barbican
13 – Brighton, Dome
15 – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
16 – Sheffield, City Hall
17 – Wolverhampton, Uni The Civic Hall
18 – Swansea, Arena
20 – Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall
21 – York, Barbican
23 – Oxford, New Theatre
24 – Manchester, Bridgewater Hall
25 – Bristol, Beacon
Alongside writing music with The Divine Comedy, recent years have seen Hannon write original material for on-stage and on-screen productions. Aside from the aforementioned Wonka film, he has also created music for a comedy called Swallows And Amazons, which was performed in London’s Vaudeville Theatre in 2011, as well as work on a musical adaptation of the Father Ted series.
The post The Divine Comedy announce “orchestral pop album” ‘Rainy Sunday Afternoon’ with new single ‘Achilles’ and 2025 UK tour appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
