What can you even say about Nick Cave that isn’t laid bare in his music? Both hold a very special place in our cultural conscience, both are elegantly sullen, and both absolutely revel in darkness.
Still, his just-released track Jesus Alone might be one of the bleakest tracks he’s ever committed to tape. For decades, Australia’s enigmatic uncle has stared straight into the abyss, wrenching beauty out of the inky blackness, but this creeping mass of a tune is something else.
It’d be unfair to assign any one event as the catalyst this gloomy cut – after all, Cave’s whole discography isn’t exactly joyous – but the track does come just over a year after the tragic, accidental death of his 15-year-old son, Arthur.
Even removed from this context, the song, replete with ominous synths and his trademark dour drawl, stands on its own as a beautiful, stark addition to the man’s canon. Expect to hear more when Nick Cave & The Bad Seed’s 16th (!!!) studio album Skeleton Tree arrives later this year.
Source and photo: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / YouTube.
