Office Politics is the twelfth studio album by 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.
Office Politics | ||||
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Studio album by The Divine Comedy | ||||
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 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Clash | 7/10[4] |
musicOMH | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Paste | 7.2/10[6] |
The Skinny | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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 |
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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 |
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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
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Orchestra
Production
Design
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Chart (2019) | Peak position |
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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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The Divine Comedy | |
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Studio albums | |
Compilation albums | |
Singles |
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Related |
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