After a five year gap, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds deliver a much needed shot of triumphant light.

Release Date: 30th August 2024

Label: Bad Seed / PIAS

Format: CD / Vinyl / Digital

WILD GOD

It has been five years since Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released Ghosteen. It has been just over a decade since Push The Sky Away, which was an album that saw a bit of a shift in sound. In the years following that record, Nick Cave has endured great heartache. This heartache oozes out of Ghosteen and Skeleton Tree (2016). For all the sadness, Cave always found solace in the live arena. Connecting with fans, he is peerless in his performances. Look at the Distant Sky live show from Copenhagen in 2019 – it is more like a ritualistic musical exorcism than a ‘gig’.

With the background set, and a few lead tracks released, Wild God arrives with much anticipation. The cover is basic, and some might say, a little dour in its hue. Many of the pictures and videos of the recording process have been in black and white. Make no mistake, Wild God is a technicolour dream of an album.

LET THERE BE DRUMS

One of the first things to notice about Wild God is the use of drums. Thomas Wydler and Jim Sclavunos are long term Bad Seeds. Ghosteen deals a lot in synth soundscapes and minimal straight up drumming; on Wild God, they appear front and centre from the off. Song Of The Lake and Wild God are both up-tempo songs that open the album in a burst of light and joy. Lush instrumentation backs the band as Nick Cave sings in his inimitable style.

When you dig a little deeper and listen intently to Wild God (the song), you can hear the nuances in the production. When Cave sings about things moving through, there is a very subtle addition to the vocals that make it sound ghostly. In true Cave fashion, there are some fiendishly good lyrics.

Some of the rhyming couplets could only come from Cave’s pen.

She would hang on to the rail as he blew through the room,
And make love with a kind of efficient gloom.
And the people on the ground cried when does it start?
And the wild god says it starts with the heart, with the heart, with the heart

Then there are the exultant choirs. Throughout Wild God, there are plenty of choral moments that lift the album to great heights.

FROGS

Another of the lead songs from Wild God, Frogs, allows the bass to flourish. Martyn Casey is obviously in play on bass, but Cave’s recent touring mate, Colin Greenwood (Radiohead) is also on the album. A twinkling opening gives was to a gentle tempo with brass and bass atop the drums. Some of the guitar licks could easily have fitted on 2008’s Dig! Lazarus! Dig! Cave croons throughout with little nods back to Push The Sky Away (‘Gets you right down to your soul’) and a thread of joy that runs through Wild God.

Joy harks back to the 1988 Bad Seeds track, Mercy. Now, the tortured feeling is flipped. The sound has the feel of earlier Bad Seed material. Piano, brass and choir coalesce into an emotive mix. This little look back helps show the pain that Cave has endured over the years.

Final Rescue Attempt closes side one with more of the classic Bad Seeds piano. Synths and strings hypnotise with their melody. The song sings of love but as ever, Nick Cave challenges in his tumultuous lyrics.

Who arе these gods that you now defеnd?
And what purpose do they serve now at the end of time?

Quite.

CONVERSION

Conversion is a pivotal moment in Wild God. It is essentially a song in two parts. The first half is lamenting, but the second half, kick started with a brilliantly simple drum fill, sets the controls for the heart of sun. It soars. When Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds tour, this has to be a shoe in for being performed. You can imagine the white light swamping any arena or auditorium in a fit of exhilarating jubilation. Lyrically, you can feel Cave moving towards a new place, at peace with the past.

These voices they never ever stopped again
They never stopped again! I was touched by the flame!
I never really ever hurt again! Never hurt again!
Not even by ordinary pain! Not even by ordinary pain!
I never ever really hurt again! Oh, hurt again! Oh, hurt again!

Cinnamon Horses is a more reflective composition. Low acoustic guitar that sounds almost Flamenco in style underpins the song. Again, Cave delivers the simplest lyric that offers so much food for thought.

Because love asks for nothing
But love costs everything

Crashing percussion is understated in the mix, however this song will be another one that can really become a Bad Seed classic. The ‘You said that’ refrain is incantation like. It is spine tinglingly great.

LONG DARK NIGHT

Long Dark Night is another of the ‘focus’ songs from Wild God. It is the most ‘classic’ Bad Seeds sounding song on the entire album. Whilst not a murder ballad, musically, you can see it fitting amongst that set. Again, there is a reflective nature in the lyrics.

But things were not so good, I can’t make light of it
My poor soul, it was having a dark night of it
It was a long night, a week, maybe a year

Like most of Nick Cave’s output, you can really feel the anguish in the music. It is what has endeared this group to so many for close to four decades.

O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is) represents one of the biggest left turns, sonically. The drumbeat sounds almost like a human beatbox and the vocal melodies use a range of techniques. There are the choral, the Cave and a use of autotune akin to Bon Iver’s 22, A Million album. O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is) also features a voice recording of Anita Lane. Lane was an Australian singer-songwriter who co-wrote a few songs with Nick Cave early in their careers. She was also a brief member of the Bad Seeds. She died in 2021. As a whole, the piece is certainly not something you might traditionally expect from the Bad Seeds, but it is one of the albums many highpoints.

As The Waters Cover The Sea closes out Wild God in truly beautiful fashion. A little over 2 minutes long, the introspective piano line is gorgeous and Cave sounds like a person at rest. To further enhance the bristling colour of Wild God, it erupts into a wonderful gospel song. It is a fitting close to a quite stunning album.

PEACE AND GOOD TIDINGS

Wild God is an immeasurable triumph of a record. There is so much to love here, as well as the basking love that the album offers as a whole. The Bad Seeds are in inspired form; the conciseness of the songs makes for a mouth watering prospect when it comes to hearing these songs live, later in 2024.

Ghosteen, Skeleton Tree and Push The Sky Away all have their own style, substance and timbre. Wild God feels like the closing of a chapter, and the start of a new one. Wild God will go down as one of 2024’s best, and will sit atop many a Bad Seed fans hierarchy of albums.

You can check out Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds tour dates below.

Check out O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is, below.

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