The Duckworth Lewis Method 'A Methodology'

Music and cricket, two of my favourite things, so what could be better than an album about cricket? There's never been one before, to the best of my knowledge, but now Neil Hannon and Thomas Walsh have created one and released it, just in time for the Ashes.

Naming the album after a very complex cricket scoring system may put off those fans of Hannon's music who do not also love cricket, but they shouldn't be scared, this is a short album of lush pop songs, plenty of swooning strings, big choruses and harmonies..the songs just happen to be about The Summer Game.

For the most part this works well. 'The Age of Revolution' is a catchy, upbeat number reflecting on the changes to cricket in recent years ("always denied entry by the English gentry/ now we're driving Bentleys and playing 20/20"). This is the first single and seems to have been the template.

Writing a whole set of albums on the topic of cricket does seem to have been a challenge for Hannon though. 'The Sweet Spot' uses a double meaning for the title but the song has nothing whatsoever to do with cricket and 'The Nightwatchman' hints at the anxiety suffered by batsmen who are 'not out' at the end of a day's play, but seems more like a desperate love song by the end.

The undoubted highlight though is an absolutely hilarious account of Mike Gatting's dismissal by Shane Warne in the 1993 Ashes, from the perspective of Gatting himself. Over an jaunty piano tune, we hear the funniest lyrics of the year so far, including an inevitable reference to a cheese roll. Totally priceless. Would love to hear what Gatt would make of it.

All in all, this is a pleasant album with some nice string arrangements and some catchy melodies. I do feel that they could have gone further with some more interesting cricket themes and stories, but that's because I love my cricket just as much as I love my music. An enjoyable little album for the Summer.

6.7

['The Duckworth Lewis Method' is out now on Divine Comedy Records. The DLM play Rough Trade East on Monday 13th July at 7pm]