Well it seems like an age since Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds brought out a new album. Nick did have some fun and experimentation with his 'Grinderman' side project last year - which was nice. And when I think about it, he really has come through when he said he wanted to be a little more 'prolific' with his albums. This was said after the release of 'Nocturama', Cave at the time also warned that as a result the music will be a little more experimental and possibly lower in standard.
That was in 2003.
Since then he has had the epic double album that was 'Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus', worked on two movie soundtracks: 'The Proposition' (made from a script he wrote) and the epic-ally titled 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'. Not bad for a fifty year old, who really couldn't be blamed for spending the most of his days mooching around his living room in a dressing gown and slippers.
'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!' is Nick Cave's fourteenth studio album with his Bad Seeds, and although they are still one Blixa Bargeld short of a full plantation, this is a real adventurous album. When we last went to see them live, the majority of the show was new material - they did, after-all have two albums worth of new stuff - the older songs saved for encores. When they played the old tracks, there seemed to be this void left by Bargeld that no matter how much the rest of the band banged and played their instruments, it just wasn't the same without him.
However, this new album seems to see the Bad Seeds really find their stride down a new path. The songs seem a little more polished, which is not necessarily a good thing, as classic Bad Seeds is as raw as the live concert. But on this album it really works. There is a lot of influence taken from the 'Grinderman' experience, as this is a lot more garage rock sounding than previous albums.
Nick Cave himself is up to his old tricks again, with some classic lines woven into this beautiful music. He's filled with all the same black comedy and biblical reference, but the songs seem a little less deep and personal. The characters (from Mr Sandman to the tortured and mad 'Larry' from the title song "I mean, he never asked to be raised up from the tomb") that populate this bleak and obsessive world that has Nick Cave written all over it. There's none of the self expressive and heart felt confessions like 'The Boatman's Call', and that seems to work wonders for Nick's sense of humour. Some lines just seem to leap out at your and bring a smile to your face. In 'We Call Upon the Author' above the random guitars and chants Cave yells out "Prolix! Prolix! Nothing a pair of scissors can't fix!" which is somewhat ironic when we get lines like "I feel like a vacuum cleaner, a complete sucker./It's munched-up and he is a muncher" in the same song.
This is Nick Cave at his best from start to finish. It just goes to show, not only wine improves with age...
'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!' is out now. So buy yours... Well, don't wait here, go buy it now...
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Nick Cave - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!
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