Casanova

Product Information

When not doing that, you can find him making music nobody listens to, dancing like everybody is watching, or playing a Greek God on stage. When Scott Walker died in 2019, I honestly felt despair over losing an artist like I had felt for no other before. The gloomy neo-swing jaunt of “A Woman of the World” (which is a reworked rejected first iteration of the Father Ted theme) casually ambles into cavernous depths as the Hannon explores the origin of feelings of love and hate (“Maybe I love her ’cause I’m jealous of her…Maybe I hate her ’cause I didn’t create her).

Setanta was able to indulge Neil Hannon's desire because of the success of Edwyn Collins' hit single " A Girl Like You".It was released in 1996 by Setanta Records, and it happened to be the band's commercial breakthrough. The breadth of quality is wide here, every moment given due consideration from the band and worth a thesis of critical analysis. Truly a poet of his age, he has a magnificent skill of encapsulating everyday woe, everyday love, and the everyday feelings of every day into witty, deprecating couplets. Also a scratch right at the beginning of the side to dead wax that creates a nasty pop for the first five or six seconds.

I promptly went out and bought Scott 1 – 4, and over the following years I consumed about everything I could in the Scott Walker universe. The Northern Irish band ushered in a new set of fans and a wash of fame by penning the show’s theme tune, as well as providing other incidental music throughout the show’s three series run ( including probably the loveliest song about a horse you’ll ever hear).I bought this because I heard the track 'Songs of Love' (based on the theme tune of Father Ted) on a radio programme and loved it. The Walker style is arguably at its most obvious on Casanova – which makes it all the more enjoyable for me to listen to. As his voice rose in the song, my heart opened and so did my mind; I had never heard music anything like this before. The remastering work, on my copy, really does make such a huge difference in the definition of the sound, when compared to the OG pressing. I may be ready to leave Father Ted behind in the vault of nostalgia in my mind, but Casanova I will keep coming back to – and not just for “Songs of Love”.

I listen and content myself knowing that someone out there is still carrying the mantle of Walker’s style.We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Singles Something For The Weekend, Becoming More Like Alfie and The Frog Princess became chart hits and airplay staples while an alternate version of Songs Of Love became the theme music for legendary Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted. For some, the lyrics might not make for easy listening (even though a lot is left to innuendo and imagination), but it also speaks to Hannon’s skill at painting characters with depth and arcs over the course of just a song.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Phrases like “Pale, pubescent beasts” are golden, but one line sticks out in particular: “Fortune depends on the tone of your voice.

In 2014, NME included the album in its list of "30 Glorious Britpop Albums That Deserve a Reissue Pronto," saying "Gawky Neil Hannon as smooth loverman was a conceit that actually worked and it produced two of Britpop's least obvious classics in the hilarious Cold Comfort Farm-inspired tale of 'Something for the Weekend' and the movie fantasy of 'Becoming More Like Alfie'. And ultimately that’s why Casanova is such a rewarding album for me: nostalgia, for both my younger self watching Father Ted, and my present self remembering the musical oeuvre of Scott Walker.