Irish singer-songwriter Neil Hannon (a.k.a. the Divine Comedy) has spent the past decade crafting archly witty albums of elegant, orchestrated pop in the style of Noel Coward and the British music hall. But more recently, Hannon has favored simpler, more stripped-down pop and thoughtful storytelling over clever wordplay. The wonderful new “Absent Friends” reprises the orchestral grandeur of past works while adhering to the more moving, heartfelt songwriting of 2001’s “Regeneration” album. For example, the airy “Come Home Billy Bird” is a gracefully melodic, harpsichord-laced tale of an airline-vexed businessman that’s both comic and touching. On “Leaving Today,” Hannon etches a gorgeous, Scott Walker-style ballad about his anguish at leaving his infant child to go on tour, while “Freedom Road” builds a swelling symphonic crescendo from a simple acoustic guitar figure as it portrays a trucker moved to tears by the splendor of the surrounding countryside. “Absent Friends” is a unique blend of intelligence, craft and compassion.
