Due for release 19th September 2025 via Divine Comedy Records
CD / 2CD / LP Black Bio-Vinyl / Ltd Indies Dark Green Bio-Vinyl
2CD contains 11 track album, alongside it is the bonus disc ‘Live in Paris & London’ –an album of deep cuts and fan favourites taken from the band’s 2022 landmark residences in London and Paris to celebrate the reissue of their catalogue.
Recorded at Abbey Road last autumn, ‘Rainy Sunday Afternoon’ is The Divine Comedy's thirteenth album and their first studio album since 2019's UK top 5 ‘Office Politics’. The band's last release was 2022's Best Of compilation ‘Charmed Life’ which also reached 5 in the UK album charts. The band’s Neil Hannon most recently wrote the original songs for the Warner Bros blockbuster ‘Wonka.’
Neil says: “My musical output is, for better or worse, a representation of my personality. A good chunk of that personality revels in the rumbumptious; celebrates the silly. And I made ample use of that for the Wonka songs. I have though, like everyone, a darker, more melancholy side. And for one reason or another it has been much in evidence of late. 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.“
Album formats will include: a black biovinyl LP in a gatefold sleeve; a limited edition dark green biovinyl LP in a gatefold sleeve; a standard 11 track CD in gatefold packaging and an expanded deluxe limited edition CD in gatefold packaging which comes with the bonus disc ‘Live in Paris & London’
The band remastered and re-released their entire back catalogue in 2020. The campaign culminated in residencies in London and Paris in 2022 where they played ten albums live over 5 nights in each city. Deluxe editions of Rainy Sunday Afternoon will include the bonus live album ‘Live in Paris & London’ - deep cuts and fan favourites taken from those landmark shows.
The Divine Comedy will play a 16 date UK tour in October 2025 with EU and Irish dates to follow in 2026. All tour dates can be found at: https://thedivinecomedy.com/live
The release will be supported by an extensive promo campaign including play and appearances on radio and TV plus interviews and features in music magazines, broadsheet titles and online.
Marketing to support the album will encompass a full cross section of digital advertising, an outdoor campaign and press advertising in key titles, plus a fan driven social media and email database campaign