Here he is again: the dapper, thin frame, the clevercousin remarks, the nice Kurt Cobain lank hair, the wonderful songs. Neil Hannon's Divine Comedy returns to the fray following a couple of years marking time between indielabel fallout and major label acceptance, honing songs that he may or may not have been hiding up his sleeve.

This mostly fan-club gig was an opportune time to hear new material, so there was little point dwelling on past glories (and when he did, it was quickly over, be it hit songs played with his band or solo on acoustic guitar). The hits included Generation Sex, National Express and Becoming More Like Alfie, as well as Tonight We Fly (from 1994's Promenade), but, curiously, the impression given by the audience was that it was content and attentive enough not to mind the absence of a partytime greatest hits set.

Thankfully, the new songs sound just as good, if not better, than the old ones: Dumb It Down, Lost Property, Love What You Do (the new single), Time Stretched, Note To Self and the extraordinary Wagner-versus-Cabaret schtick of Sweden.

Occupying a familiar ground between quite perfect, languorous pop music and gritty rock guitar, Hannon's absurdly smart way with lyrics and a sonic template that very occasionally resembles Radiohead's OK Computer (absolutely not as lazy a generalisation as you might think), this was a resounding re-entry into the marketplace.

Here's to the new album and a few bona fide public-access concerts in the near future.