Office Politics | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 7 June 2019 | |||
Recorded | 2017–2019[1] | |||
Genre | Art pop | |||
Length | 60:39 | |||
Label | Divine Comedy | |||
Producer | Neil Hannon | |||
The Divine Comedy chronology | ||||
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Singles from Office Politics | ||||
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Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 77/100[2] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Clash | 7/10[4] |
musicOMH | [5] |
Paste | 7.2/10[6] |
The Skinny | [7] |
Office Politics is the twelfth studio album by Northern Irish chamber pop band the Divine Comedy, released on 7 June 2019 by Divine Comedy Records.[8] It is a concept album concerning the workplace and the ever-growing role machines play in it.[9] The deluxe edition of the album features a bonus disc of Divine Comedy singer-songwriter Neil Hannon's original piano demos for his songs for Royal National Theatre's 2007 musical adaption of Swallows and Amazons.
Hannon has said that the use of marimba was inspired by bands such as Blondie, on their single "The Tide Is High", and Siouxsie Sioux's second band the Creatures.[10] Hannon also cited the tribal drums of early Adam Ant music as another inspiration.[10]
Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, awarded the album an average score of 77, based on seven reviews, indicating "generally good reviews."[2]
All tracks are written by Neil Hannon, except where otherwise noted[11]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Queuejumper" | 3:07 | |
2. | "Office Politics" | 4:02 | |
3. | "Norman and Norma" | 3:36 | |
4. | "Absolutely Obsolete" | 4:13 | |
5. | "Infernal Machines" | 3:05 | |
6. | "You'll Never Work in This Town Again" | Neil Hannon, Marion Sunshine, Obdulio Morales, Julio Blanco Leonard | 4:11 |
7. | "Psychological Evaluation" | 2:40 | |
8. | "The Synthesiser Service Centre Super Summer Sale" | Hannon, Tosh Flood, Ian Watson, Andrew Skeet, Simon Little, Tim Weller | 3:51 |
9. | "The Life and Soul of the Party" | 3:28 | |
10. | "A Feather in Your Cap" | 4:00 | |
11. | "I'm a Stranger Here" | 4:38 | |
12. | "Dark Days Are Here Again" | 3:15 | |
13. | "Philip and Steve's Furniture Removal Company" | 4:51 | |
14. | "'Opportunity' Knox" | 3:43 | |
15. | "After the Lord Mayor's Show" | 3:46 | |
16. | "When the Working Day Is Done" | 4:13 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Whistle for a Wind" | 6:04 |
2. | "The Swallow" | 6:21 |
3. | "The Conquering Heroes" | 4:24 |
4. | "Fighting Swallow" | 1:16 |
5. | "The Amazon Pirates" | 3:43 |
6. | "The Parley" | 3:49 |
7. | "Better Drowned Than Duffers" | 3:25 |
8. | "Let's Make the Best of It" | 4:01 |
9. | "Navy Stroke" | 3:00 |
10. | "Like Robinson Crusoe" | 3:48 |
11. | "Titty's Dream" | 4:10 |
12. | "Conquering Heroes, Victory Chorus" | 1:55 |
13. | "The Black Spot" | 3:23 |
14. | "The Parley – Flint's Apology" | 3:26 |
15. | "Swallows and Amazons Forever" | 2:57 |
Credits adapted from Office Politics liner notes.[12]
Musicians
Additional musicians
|
Orchestra
Production
Design
|
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 159 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] | 63 |
French Albums (SNEP)[15] | 42 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] | 51 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] | 9 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] | 2 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[19] | 33 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] | 78 |
UK Albums (OCC)[21] | 5 |
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