What a privilege it is to be alive and able to listen to a new album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. It has been five years since their previous album, Ghosteen (2019). Although Cave has released music during this period, including soundtracks and a studio album, all created alongside Warren Ellis (violinist and also a member of The Bad Seeds), this is the group’s first official release since then.
Wild God is a creative and intricate work, overflowing with emotion. Cave and the band give it their all. The listener is reduced to a spectator who can only let themselves be moved and carried away by this emotional storm.
While there are moments reminiscent of the dreamy, synth-based ambient sound of their previous album, Wild God is far from being a direct continuation. Instead, it feels more like a partial return to the classic sound of The Bad Seeds, where Cave’s piano leads the songs, but now enriched with the more modern elements of their recent albums, such as experimental and intricate arrangements.
For example, “O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is),” would be a simple piano and acoustic guitar song, if not for the layers of electronic sounds that envelop it.
Cave’s voice resonates with power and depth, commanding attention at every moment, like a central figure. His voice, the primary instrument of the album, blends effortlessly with the rest of the music, and rather than standing over it, Cave’s voice fits into every corner like a piece of a puzzle.
I wouldn’t be exaggerating by saying that Cave’s detailed vocal articulation serves as another texture among the other instruments and electronic arrangements.
Female backing vocals abound, elevating the emotions of the songs. However, something that surprised me was the incorporation of gospel choirs, making a subtle appearance in the opening track “Song of the Lake,” and becoming more prominent in “Conversion” (a song that has earned a special place in my heart), and especially in the short final piece, “As The Waters Cover The Sea.”
Cave’s intricate lyrics, one of the most iconic elements of all his albums, maintain their usual significance, poetry, and depth. As always, dark and cynical elements are never missing.
The style ranges from lyrics that seem like impressionist brushstrokes, as in “Song of the Lake,” to dense storytelling like in “Wild God” and “Joy.”
“Frogs,” an emotional and experimental song that blends impressionist lyrical style with the religious themes that are always present in Cave’s work, tells the story of a couple leaving Sunday mass, starting with a rather shocking line: “Ushering in the week, he knelt down, crushed his brother’s head in with a bone. It’s my great privilege, oh babe, to walk you home.”
“Conversion” strikes me as a poetic stream of consciousness, with Cave narrating a vision that culminates in one of my favorite parts of the whole album: a scene that feels like a shamanic ritual, where a gospel choir repeats over and over the phrase, “Touched by the spirit and touched by the flame,” and Cave sings and shouts in between, as if in a trance, guiding it all.
“Long Dark Night” is a typical Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song, one that could have appeared on any of their albums from the ’90s. Based on a simple arpeggiated piano combined with an acoustic guitar, the macabre lyrics lead into a simple chorus, “Maybe a long dark night is coming down.” It serves as a break from the density and electronic elements of the rest of the album.
“O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)” contains playful lyrics, where the protagonist observes a girl and reacts by idealizing her with enthusiasm. It’s a slight deviation, a breather from the intense content of the rest of the album. Cave and the band seem to be in a very good mood in this track, and the music reflects that too.
The final piece, the aforementioned “As The Waters Cover The Sea,” concludes the album on a hopeful note, “Peace and good tidings, He will bring good tidings to all things.” It seems that Cave, at almost 67 years old, and even after experiencing the loss of two of his sons in the last decade, has come to the conclusion that, even amidst the darkness of the human experience — which he explores repeatedly in his lyrics — life is worth living, and the future will bring good things.
A fitting end, considering the 44 intense minutes that precede it.
Wild God is an album worth the time you spend with it. There are many mysteries and emotions in every step. I believe it stands out as one of the band’s finest recent works. Highly recommended to be listened to at night, in a serene atmosphere that allows you to delve in and become enveloped by its charm.
In Cave’s own words, “I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me. It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it.“
