Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

Carnage GOLIATH

Bad Seeds duo ejaculate lockdown classic.

Nick Cave’s prolific lockdown period has seen Idiot Prayer’s

concert/album, L.I.T.A.N.I.E.S.

opera and esoteric nick-nacks for his online store. Unexpectedly, 2019’s Ghosteen

has been followed by this selfdescribed “brutal but very beautiful record nested in a communal catastrophe”, which “fell out of the sky” through online exchanges with lieutenant/soundtrack partner Warren Ellis.

Lyrically and vocally, Cave’s on fire over Ellis’s shimmering soundscapes, describing his suicide on Shattered Ground,

declaring: ‘I’m a Botticelli Venus with a penis’ on sinister redneck vamp White Elephant. Classic Bad Seeds tropes get resprayed with luminous restless energy on Old Time’s ominous bible rumble or exquisite ballads like Carnage and Albuquerque, and the optimistic dawn of Balcony Man ends this remarkable set declaring: ‘This morning is amazing and so are you.’

In his sixth decade as our most fascinating, ever-shifting genius, Cave remains inspirational working widescreen miracles from cataclysmic events. ■■■■■■■■■■