Promenade, like its predecessor, Liberation, was recorded by frontman Neil Hannon and co-producer Darren Allison, with the addition of a string quartet, as well as oboe/cor anglais courtesy of Joby Talbot, thus marking Talbot's first appearance with the band. Talbot would go on to become the arranger for most of the Divine Comedy's post-Casanova work, even co-writing two of the band's songs.[1]
Concept
One recurring element in Promenade is water, mentioned in one way or another in the songs "Bath", "A Seafood Song", "Geronimo", "The Summerhouse", "Neptune's Daughter" and "Tonight We Fly". The North Sea, itself, even plays a part in the album: producer Darren Allison made field recordings at North Blyth and Druridge Bay on the Northumberland Coast, which can be heard at the beginning of "Bath" and again in "Neptune's Daughter".[2]
Promenade is "a concept album about two lovers at the sea".[2] The album's style is even more classical-influenced than its predecessor, Liberation. The string arrangements are reminiscent of the works of Michael Nyman, with whom the Divine Comedy would later collaborate. Hannon once said that after attending one of Nyman's performances he went up to the composer, handed him a copy of Promenade, and jokingly said, "You can sue me if you like." Years later, Nyman said he did not remember the incident, but said he felt more "flattered than ripped off."[3]
References
Promenade is even more overtly literary than Liberation. It opens with a quote from Isaac Watts' hymn "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" and ends with a quote from John Dryden's translation of one of Horace's odes (which is also sung as the chorus of "The Booklovers"). "The Booklovers" is a list of over seventy different authors.
References to French New Wave cinema occur in two of the songs. "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" alludes to François Truffaut's Jules et Jim, contains excerpts of dialogue from Jean-Luc Godard's À Bout de Souffle and contains the line "and when she asks for his ambition, Jean-Pierre replies 'My mission is to become eternal and to die'", describing a scene in À Bout de Souffle in which a novelist character played by Jean-Pierre Melville replies "devenir immortel et puis, mourir".[4] This song also contains a reference to Éric Rohmer's Claire's Knee. "The Booklovers" contains the line "Tu connais William Faulkner?", also a quote from À Bout de Souffle.
Neil Hannon used to send all of his albums to American singer-songwriter Scott Walker, of whom Hannon is a very big fan. After Hannon sent Walker a copy of Promenade, Walker sent him a letter back, stating that he particularly liked "The Booklovers".
The sample at the beginning of "The Booklovers" features Audrey Hepburn from the 1957 film Funny Face.
Further samples during "The Booklovers" feature Graham Chapman ("Good evening", "names that will live forever"), Michael Palin ("London is so beautiful at this time of year") and John Cleese ("Oh, it makes me mad") from the third and sixth episodes of series 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
The sample in "When the Lights Go Out All Over Europe" is from the 1960 film À Bout de Souffle.
The sample in "Ode to the Man" features Micheál Mac Liammóir quoting John Dryden's English translation of one of Horace's odes (Imitation of Horace, book III, ode 29, vv. 65-72)[12] in the 1963 film Tom Jones.
