The Violence is a studio album by British singer and songwriter Darren Hayman featuring the backing band the Long Parliament. It was released on 5 November 2012 by Fortuna Pop! The Violence is the third and final part in Hayman's Essex Trilogy. An expanded reissue of the album was released in June 2026 as a co-release between Audio Antihero and Hayman's Belka imprint.
Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 81 based on 9 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Marc Burrows of The Quietus wrote that "these are wonderful pop songs, each a compacted treasure of melody and heart."
Additional positive reviews came from Stewart Lee of The Sunday Times, BBC, The Skinny, Drowned in Sound, The Line of Best Fit, KLOF Magazine, DIY,God Is In the TV, NME, and others.
Original 2012 track listing
2026 Expanded Edition track listing
References