Tom Hanks questioned his decision to make Turner and Hooch 2...

Divine Comedy top dog Neil Hannon has a word...

He's the man behind the theme music for Father Ted and The IT Crowd, he spent last summer singing about cricket, he's just written a musical and now his band, The Divine Comedy, have released their tenth studio album. He's been so busy he missed the World Cup final. So the big question is, where did Neil Hannon find the time to speak to us?

There's busy, Neil, and there's busy. And we understand that you have been, er, busy?

Yes I've been very busy indeed. Mainly trying to, er, move house!

Oh right. We thought it was because you were churning out more liquid gold than a burst oil pipe in the Gulf of Mexico...

Ha well yes I've had a couple of gigs and stuff like that. But moving from a big house to a small house, it's always tricky. I took a load of stuff to the auction rooms the other day. It's heartbreaking but it's got to be done, it's just rubbish.

Well don't do anything until you've called Cash in the Attic anyway. And hows this thing you call work then?

I never stop working, it's just what am I working on is the question. I've never stopped working on the next Divine Comedy album since I was about 20, it's just since the last album in 2006 I was writing the album and writing a musical and writing the Duckworth Lewis Method with my friend Thomas, and various other things as well which I can't quite remember! So i've been keeping myself busy, the musical is actually coming to the stage in November, finally, called Swallows and Amazons, at the Bristol Old Vic - please do attend!

Sounds exciting. We're pitching Greggs: The Musical to Broadway, but we've had no luck as yet. Apparently our "Ode to a Sausage and Bean Melt" is deemed too risqué. So, last summer you toured as the brilliant Duckworth Lewis Method with your mate Thomas Walsh, singing songs about cricket...

Yeah and we're still doing it this summer, we did a show recently in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and that went so well that we decided to do one next week in the Olimpia Dublin to keep the Irish contingent happy!

Nice one. So does that mean you'll be blagging tickets to the Ashes then?

Well, we had ridiculous ideas about going and playing a few DLM shows over there, but it just proved economically impossible. By the time it gets to Christmas I'll have done so many Divine Comedy shows that I don't think I'll want to see a stage again! And to be honest there has been nothing that has prevented me from watching cricket so much as this bloody cricket album! It was fantastic for meeting some cool people, and we got to a few of the games, but we were always doing bloody promo! I've never been much of a blagger to be honest, and I am so immensely busy for most of my life that actually going to Oz might be a bit much, so I'd prefer to sit on my arse and watch it.

Fair enough. Was that your tactic for the World Cup too?

I saw an awful lot of the group matches and the round of 16, but then it started to go wrong when it got to the latter stages and I didn't see much. I was even in the air when the final happened, and although everybody says “you didn't miss much” the fact is regardless of how the play was it's the World Cup Final. I thought when landing in Dublin perhaps I could sneak through and see some highlights, but of course as soon as I got off the plane there were reams of Spanish jumping up and down screaming their heads off, so that kind of gave me a clue as to how it went...

The Final certainly missed a good headbutting incident or something...

Yeah there were a couple of stonking matches, mostly containing Germany but to be honest it didn't seem to live up to the billing, but it rarely has in the past, especially the final. Still, it was a relief to see the French implode, from an Irish perspective of course...

Of course. Still at least Thierry Henry has sought refuge in New York, safe from any Irish people. Genius. Who's your club team?

I'm a Man Utd fan. Suddenly a huge sigh will be emitted from everybody reading this!

We won't lie to you - you've probably called that spot on. But are you a Man Utd fan or a Man Utd "fan"?

I only started watching sport when I left school, in 1989, because up til then I'd been very much a musicophile. And it was only when I left school sitting on my arse in my parents house with sod all to do when I began watching football and cricket. It was just before United started to be all-conquering, so I have some sort of vestige of credibility. I got to quite a few games when I lived in London, but since I moved to Dublin I've only got to about three. The horrible thing is I think I saw United more times at Stamford Bridge than I did at Old Trafford!

So can we have your obligatory take on how it will go for Fergie and co this season?

It's a tricky one. I wasn't terribly optimistic about last season but we got as far as we did thanks to Wayne Rooney becoming a sort of super hero, but Berbatov still didn't earn his pay. As usual Berbatov is being lauded for his pre-season friendly performances, but I'm sure that's happened the last two seasons. I just don't think it's going to happen. But Hernandez looked good at the World Cup. It's just I'm worried that we're still reliant on Scholes and Giggs, virtually coming out of retirement every year! I think everybody should watch Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, he's a crafty character.

We'll make sure he doesn't nick our chips. So can we expect a football album any time soon? Surely the world wants to hear a musical tribute to Howard Webb's shiny head?

Now I love football, and there is no sport more exciting when it comes to the crunch. But cricket was crying to be written about – mostly because it hadn't been until now – and with cricket it has its rivalries but it's really not a terribly tribal sport. People who love cricket would love to see a great performance by Sri Lanka as much as England or South Africa or anybody, because they love the game. But with football it's different, you could have your team played off the field by the opposition but you're not going to go ”oh they were fantastic, I love that club”. It's just not going to happen. So that puts a bit of a dampener on writing about it because music is rarely about aggression. Not mine anyway. It just sounds scary.

True dat. We've long had nightmares involving Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle. So we know you can play, but can you play?

No, that's one thing beyond the pale for me. I have plenty of coordination when it comes to musical instruments, but none when it comes to my feet!

The Divine Comedy will be hitting the road for a UK tour this November. ‘I Like’ is released on August 1st through Divine Comedy Records. The album ‘Bang Goes The Knighthood’ is out now.