Nick Cave has confirmed that he’s been at work on a new album called ‘CARNAGE’. The news was revealed by the singer while replying to a fan who had expressed her sadness over the tour cancellation news at the end of the latest installment of his ongoing Q&A series the Red Hand Files.
Replying to a fan’s question about how he’s found the last year under the circumstances of the pandemic, Cave told of his experience of missing life on the road and working with the rest of his bandmates, before confirming work on the album.
“In many ways lockdown has felt weirdly familiar, like I’ve experienced it before,” wrote Cave. “I guess this should come as no surprise as I was a heroin addict for many years and self-isolating and social distancing were the name of the game. I am also well acquainted with the mechanics of grief — collective grief works in an eerily similar way to personal grief, with its dark confusion, deep uncertainty and loss of control.
“For me, lockdown feels like a state mandated version of more of the same — a formalisation of the kind of hermit-like behaviour to which I’ve always been predisposed, and so, as difficult as it has been to see the devastation and anguish caused by the pandemic — including to the lives of those close to me, and many who have written into The Red Hand Files — I have been doing okay.”
Cave continued: “I am surprised, though, at just how hard not being able to play live has felt. I have come to the conclusion that I am essentially a thing that tours. There is a terrible yearning and a feeling of a life being half-lived. I miss the thrill of stepping onto the stage, the rush of the performance, where all other concerns dissolve into a pure animal interrelation with my audience.
“I miss the complete surrender to the moment, the loss of self, the physicalness of it all, the feeding frenzy of communal love, the religion, the glorious exchange of bodily fluids — and The Bad Seeds themselves, of course, in all their reckless splendour, how I miss them. As much as sitting behind my desk can bring me a lot of joy, and the imagination can be a stimulating, even dangerous place, I long for the wanton abandon of the live performance.”
He added: “Anyway, as promised in my last issue, I did go into the studio — with Warren — to make a record. It’s called CARNAGE.”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ last proper album, Ghosteen, dropped in 2019 to rave reviews. Recenly, Cave shared a live album version of his Idiot Prayer concert livestream, which included the debut of new song “Euthanasia”. The 63-year-old also began selling rolls of erotic wallpaper in his new Cave Things merch store, but that product hasn’t been as warmly received.
Nick Cave, photo by Kerry Brown
