Nick Cave has shared insight into his upcoming album ‘Wild God’, and explained that the LP isn’t “set through a lens of loss”.
The singer-songwriter announced details of the new Bad Seeds record at the start of the month, sharing the artwork, tracklisting and its moving title track with fans.
Set for release on August 30 (pre-order here), Cave described the album as “deeply and joyously infectious”, and said it will see him move between themes of convention and experimentation more than in previous work.
It is co-produced by Warren Ellis and mixed by David Fridmann, and the frontman also teased fans on his blog (The Red Hand Files), saying that the album is “full of secrets”.
Now, in a new interview, Cave has shed more light on what to expect from ‘Wild God’ – explaining that while the death of his two sons will always impact his writing, the album itself isn’t “set through a lens of loss”.
“Even when I’m trying to use art to escape certain feelings and sorrows I have, everything just seems to fall into the slipstream of the loss,” he told The Guardian. “These losses are just incorporated into the artistic flow and they move in a direction that is beyond your capacity to rein in. They’re just sitting at the end of everything you do.”
In 2015, 15-year-old Arthur died after taking LSD for the first time and falling from a cliff near his home in Brighton. In 2022, 31-year-old Jethro, who had schizophrenia, died in Melbourne. The new album will be his first since Jethro died, and both ‘Skeleton Tree’ (2016) and ‘Ghosteen’ (2019) were centred around the loss of Arthur.
While going on to explain how the losses have impacted him in various ways, Cave did go on to add that the grief has made him appreciate life more.
“Joy is something that leaps unexpectedly and shockingly out of an understanding of loss and suffering… That’s in no way saying we’re not affected, or we’ve somehow gotten over it, or we’ve had closure or even acceptance,” he explained.
“I think closure is a dumb thing. Even acceptance is, like: ‘Just give it a few years and life goes back to how it was.’ It doesn’t happen. You’re fundamentally changed. Your very chemistry is changed. And when you’re put back together again, you’re a different person. The world feels more meaningful.”
He added: “Making art is in itself the great expression of joy and optimism, in my view. That’s why we need it. Music, art, reminds us of our fundamental capacity to create beautiful things out of the fuckeries of life.
“The new album is really good. It’s really strong. Great songs.”
Later this year Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds are set to embark on a run of UK and European tour dates in support of ‘Wild God’.
The band will kick off their tour on September 24 in Oberhausen, Germany, and will end in Paris, France on November 17. Six UK shows are also lined up for Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff, London and Birmingham. Visit here for any remaining tickets.
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