MOG

MOGstars - 9/10

It’s been a busy few years for Nick Cave, he’s written a screenplay for Outback thriller The Proposition, appeared onscreen alongside Brad Pitt and dabbled with brutalised side project Grinderman. Returning to the day job, the imposing Australian troubadour and his ever-present Bad Seeds have produced this, their fourteenth studio album.

Within seconds this is a clear return to the malevolent blues of previous outings. The title track slides stubbornly off the record with a lethargic call and response bass and screeching guitars which at the same time appal and intrigue. “I can hear my mother wailing and a whole lot of scraping of chairs” Cave enunciates in a line that perfectly echoes the music – “I don't know what it is but there's definitely something going on upstairs” is equally descriptive of Cave and co. as they make their way through a signature dystopian ballad which sees “Larry” as the unwilling recipient of resurrection.

Night of the Lotus Eaters sees the band crafting what can only be classed as horror music. It does not earn this tag for its quality, but rather its atmosphere. The regular, yet indescribable, beat exudes suspense – images of sneaking through an abandoned farm easily come to mind. All the while Cave draws your attention like a Shakespearean actor, it is not roaring, bombastic voice, but a subdued, powerful monologue, filled with menace. Screeches of strings blow in the breeze with threat, completing a scene of desolation and trepidation.

However, it is final track More News From Nowhere that really stands out in this collection of dark tales. Lifting imagery from The Odyssey Cave pays tribute to his story-telling forebears, but at the same time casts a more personal image than seen elsewhere. Here the music is stripped of most of its animal-like smoke and mirrors, instead it appears toned down, and at times even melodic. The lyrics may contain the Cave staples of adultery, murder and monstrosity, but the chorus resounds with a “state of the nation” honesty. A refreshing antidote to the theatrics that come before, this serves as a crossing point from the band’s world to ours.

Fans of Cave will find much to love in Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, the usual mainstays are evident: the women (usually sex crazed and murderous), the violence and of course the intellectual literacy witnessed on We Call Upon the Author. Again musically there are now great departures from the tested formula, although the organic noisiness of Grinderman does rear its head to provide new impetus. Constantly serpentine, the songs slither beneath the radar before exploding into a well timed strike – Hold Onto Yourself slides almost anonymously into the satanic dance party of Lie Down Here (and Be My Girl). As ever the Bad Seeds have crafted a record that is almost theatrical – every song embodies a different scene, with Cave himself ranging from a raging Macbeth to a despondent Hamlet (Jesus of The Moon even casts him as an unfamiliar romantic lead). The outcome is a powerful play, that captures the band at the most unhinged and beautiful, and treats the audience to shock and stimulation.