“Wild God”, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

The 18th^e Australian bard Nick Cave’s album with his Bad Seeds is called Wild Godbut the singer revealed that he hesitated between this title and “Joy”, like the poignant song at the heart of the album. This is the first thing that we will remember: the joy that emerges from these interpretations (in any case more than in the texts, as always complex), from these orchestrations giving pride of place to gospel choirs (the notion of God is never far away in the musician’s themes) and to brass, a kind of euphoria to which the dark Cave has not accustomed us in 45 years of career. I woke up this morning with the blues all around my head / I felt like someone in my family was dead ” he sings at the beginning of Joyagain mentioning the death of his son Arthur in 2015, as he has done since (Skeleton Tree2016, the powerful Ghosteen2019), but seeking light, rather than darkness, in his existence, and in ours. Cave (and his accomplice, co-director, Warren Ellis) delivers an album full of hope, with welcoming and comforting melodies.

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