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Indulgence No. 2

Indulgence No. 2

Released: 15th July 1994

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This second EP was released independently by Setanta in 1994. 1000 copies were pressed, and the disc was only available by mail order from Setanta for just £2 !

The three tracks were recorded live when The Divine Comedy was supporting Tori Amos in Germany. Perhaps the original idea was to make a cover EP like Indulgence No. 1; here’s what Simon from Setanta said [1]:

“The live songs were recorded on the Tori Amos European tour of April 1994, which DC were the support act on. Mark Hawley is Tori’s soundman. I can’t actually say which venue it was recorded in as we DATed two nights, but it is either the Schumannsaal, Düsseldorf or the CCH2, Hamburg. The original idea was to include a live version of Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’, which Neil played especially in their hometown of Düsseldorf, but the sound on that was terrible! A pity as it was a good arrangement!”

Therefore, there is no evidence of the origin of the tracks, but since the Düsseldorf recording is said to sound terrible, we assume the songs are from the Hamburg gig, but any additional information is welcome. The Düsseldorf version of ‘The Model’ is said to be found on the Rarities album, but the track is actually recorded at Sound Factory Festival in Bochum. It is likely the Düsseldorf was unlistenable and they preferred to put another version instead, but those versions must be very different since in Bochum Neil Hannon was only joined by a violin and a cello, while in April 1994 the line-up also included Joby Talbot on piano.

About the making of the record, Simon also said: “We, being in the old days a bit of a ‘cottage industry’, did in fact stamp the records by hand. The label (as also on Indulgence No. 1) was printed out on my old Citizen 120D in the kitchen - using a feat of engineering including a broom handle, a kettle, some treasury tags and two bulldog clips to keep the (toilet-roll sized) roll of stickers feeding through the printer! Ahhh, the old days...”

The mysterious front photo was actually shot in 1993, after a concert in Toulouse, by photographer Valéry Lorenzo.

[1] E-pop mailing list