New Nick Cave album.

[Dr Rock]

Puce - is the "Henry" in Henry's Dream a reference to Henry Rollins? Did some googling but it turned up nowt.

You've got 'Papa Won't Leave You Henry' so I thought it's just the name of his son in that song (I think it's safe to assume Henry is his son, but it's not clarified explicitly), and songs on the album could come from a shared perspective in a loose concept album style, but as could many of his songs from that period. He could be named after Rollins, but Cave uses a lot of names, John Finn, and all the ones in O'Malley's Bar (not from this album I know), great name choices, I'm convinced these people exist. Henry as a name has a certain charm, I can't imagine the song being Papa Won't Leave You Simon.

[Puce Moment]

Puce - is the "Henry" in Henry's Dream a reference to Henry Rollins? Did some googling but it turned up nowt.

No, the album is kind of a joined-up fictional narrative in the folk tradition. The story itself, as started in 'Papa Won't Leave you, Henry' is narrated by the Father reassuring his son he will always be there for me, despite all of life's dangers.

The second song on the album is called 'I Had a Dream, Joe' which in and of itself does not mention 'Henry' but judging by the album's title we can assume it is Henry's own recounting of a dream to someone called Joe who may or may not be his Father.

[Noodle Lizard]

Puce - is the "Henry" in Henry's Dream a reference to Henry Rollins? Did some googling but it turned up nowt.

I've always got the impression that Rollins cares more about Cave than vice versa[nb]same with most "music legends" Rollins namechecks - seems to be a lot of one-way chatter[nb]see also Penn Jillette: why did Lou Reed and Bob Dylan never mention their best friend?[/nb][/nb].  Especially can't imagine yer man naming an album after him.

[Squink]

It seems pretty mutual:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-henry-rollins-and-nick-cave-1274688.html

I don't think Henry's Dream is about Rollins, but I've often wondered if he used the names Henry and Joe in the songs as an oblique reference to Joe Cole's murder, which occurred around the time of the making of the album (if I've got the timeline right).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Joe_Cole

[CaledonianGonzo]

I imagine it will be a total misery-fest although I have a feeling, and might be completely wrong, that they will side-step The Dead Son, and leave is as the elephant in the room. Hard to know.

The first track 'Jesus Alone' is now out there. 

I can't listen to it yet myself, but from the looks of it on Twitter the elephant in the room is going to feature.

[holyzombiejesus]

Just seen a couple of lines from the song. Oof!

[Puce Moment]

[Dr Rock]

I know he was using that spray-on hair back in the 90s. What has been his long term solution?

[Puce Moment]

I honestly think that recent events have facilitated the most appropriate time for Cave to bite the bullet and do a Schofield.

I remember waiting until the end of the school year so that I could come back after the summer with my new side-parting.

[Milverton]

The first track 'Jesus Alone' is now out there. 

I can't listen to it yet myself, but from the looks of it on Twitter the elephant in the room is going to feature.

It's absolutely beautiful.

[the science eel]

It's not. It's pretty bad, actually.

Why would you want to put something like that on? at home? It beggars belief.

[Puce Moment]

As someone who likes Cave/Ellis orchestral stuff, and some of the more minimalist electronic weirdness that Ellis also brings, I have to say I thought that was excellent. It does remind me of something from No More Shall We Part, which is a good thing. Frankly, I had grown tired of the happy, humorous, wry Cave of Lazarus Dig and Grinderman.

Yeah, I know.

[non capisco]

Haunting as hell. Love it.

[Noodle Lizard]

I like it a lot - more than anything on Push The Sky Away, I think.  Much more up my alley, plus it's got Warren Ellis's DNA all over it.

[Milverton]

It's not. It's pretty bad, actually.

Why would you want to put something like that on? at home? It beggars belief.

I often think that when I'm asked to put up with Adele or Ed Sheeran being blasted out at home. I'm also often informed the latest Beyonce album is a work of genius. It sounds utter tripe to me.

Whether we like it or not part of the USP of the new album is Cave's musings on the recent tragedy. To me he is one of the great lyricists of the last few decades and I want to hear his insights - if he has any - into the loss we will all face at some point. I take the knowledge of his bereavement into the hearing of his new material so perhaps I in fact imagine depths that are not there.

I'm aware that in saying that I might also be perceived as mawkishly intruding into his family's grief, but if that is what he is writing about the choice is primarily his, not mine. It would be very strange if, even though the majority of the album was written before the death of his son, that event did not seep into it. I've not seen a review, or heard anything except the above track, but Cave has never struck me as someone to shy away from laying his soul before us.

I preordered the album a couple of weeks back, as I would have anyway, and yes, I've been searching for an early leak. I can perfectly understand why people don't like Cave's music. I don't know personally anyone who does, frankly, but to me he is absolutely at the pinnacle. With Bowie gone, Cohen going, Dylan winding down and Morrissey now a bitter joke he is now about the only artist who genuinely excites me. I can look forward to Radiohead and New Order albums. I can chomp at the bit to hear the new Teenage Fanclub  or Pixies, but only an imminent Cave album gives me a frisson.

[Puce Moment]

If anyone was in any doubt about whether the new album will include reflections on the passing of his son, he dispels them with the opening line of that song.

I didn't think he could out-maudlin The Boatman's Call but I imagine I will be proved wrong. I can't imagine heartache over unrequited love and rejection is going to compare with the loss of a child.

[Serge]

The best thing he's done for years. I mean, obviously, given what the song is about, it's going to hit me hard right now, but still. It's brilliant.

[Dr Rock]

I find the song overwhelming, very powerful and great arrangement. Is it actually a single though? It's just I thought it was a bit in poor taste when Eric Clapton released that song about that event, as a single... so...

[the science eel]

I find the song overwhelming, very powerful and great arrangement. Is it actually a single though? It's just I thought it was a bit in poor taste when Eric Clapton released that song about that event, as a single... so...

People reading this probably won't think that Cave's effort is similar in many ways. Because it's Cave, and not Clapton. And Cave was a madman who calmed down and is now a poet, and all that shit.

I mean, poor fucker, nobody would ever want to go through what he did. That was a heartbreaking, horrible thing to happen.

BUT....

[Serge]

I don't think it's actually a single, though I could be wrong. I suppose these days singles aren't quite as big a thing as they were even when 'Tears In Heaven' came out. I remember getting quite annoyed when there were people saying how brave The Horrors were for releasing 'Sea Within A Sea' as the first single from 'Primary Colours', when they weren't really - they'd made a video and possibly released an MP3, but there was no physical version and it wasn't likely to become a No.1 Smash, so it wasn't that much of a risk.

[Noodle Lizard]

Maybe I just haven't read between the lines enough, but I didn't think that song was explicitly about his son's death.  Certainly not like Tears In Heaven, anyway.  I suppose all that stuff about "crashing near the river Adur" at the beginning is quite easy to interpret that way, mind.

[Puce Moment]

Maybe I just haven't read between the lines enough, but I didn't think that song was explicitly about his son's death.  Certainly not like Tears In Heaven, anyway.  I suppose all that stuff about "crashing near the river Adur" at the beginning is quite easy to interpret that way, mind.

I can't tell if you're being serious. I don't think you need to have a PhD in Poetry to interpret "You fell from the sky, crash landed in a field near the River Adur"

[Serge]

By the way, when I say 'best thing he's done for years', I don't mean to slag his more recent stuff. Although I wasn't that big a fan of 'Push The Sky Away' (opening and final track aside), I should admit - probably to the horror of Puce Moment - that I loved 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!', which I see as being like 'Let's Dance' - an inessential, but rather fun album.

[Puce Moment]

The thing is, a mediocre Cave album is still a great thing, and I'm delighted that he is still going and making relevant music after all these years. Alongside Swans, he is one of very few examples of a vintage music artist who still has purpose, in contrast to the huge landfill swathes of tribute karaoke reunions, and by-numbers stadium rock bands cashing in on decades old success.

I would rather something catastrophic didn't happen to make him get into a mode of writing that I really love, but I think that is just the way it is - although that new song does confirm to a lot of recent work. As noted, it has Ellis' hands all over it.

Also, he really is a force live. I saw him live on the tour for (arguably) their worst Bad Seeds album of all time - Nocturama. It was a spell-binding show - and in many ways more engrossing than the angry, opiate driven performances I saw around the time of Let Love In.

[holyzombiejesus]

Anyone else go and see the film tonight? I have mixed thoughts on it, there were some really interesting bits, Warren Ellis (obviously) was fucking ace and some of the songs from the new album sounded great. However, there were some really (tonally) bizarre bits, one in particular, and the last few shots and credits jarred. Also, the people near me were cunts, filming and photographing the film and consequently I still don't quite get if the songs were improvised or written before Arthur died.

[Why I Hate Tables]

I enjoyed it. Agreed on Warren Ellis: what's not to like? He's really funny but when he sits down at a keyboard or picks up a violin what happens is otherworldly. He's Cave's access point to the Otherworld. The stuff on the creative process was really effective. Here's the rub though: I wasn't mad on the new stuff in the film. Musically it's all great stuff but I think, as much as I don't want it to be, this may be Cave bowing out. Could be 2016-itis with other great figures departing is effecting my perception of this but there're lingering hints of it. The list of things he's lost, invisible things; sentences like "if there's still interest we make another record"; his closing ruminations. Some of his pained expressions in the studio sequences struck me not just of those of a grieving father at a difficult point in his life but of a man questioning the worth of what he's doing. Maybe we saw the spark going out and if so then what a brave thing to do, One More Time With Feeling: in the shadow of the death of your son and a mourning process documented by the media, to also document the death of your muse.

[the science eel]

Yeah, but they never give up, do they? None of them do, ever. Only death stops musicians. And even then....

[WesterlyWinds]

Whole album now on YouTube courtesy of the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds official channel. Not had chance to listen to it yet, but will do so soon...

[Squink]

I enjoyed it.

Not sure that "enjoyed" was the word I'd use! There were some surprisingly funny parts though. That open with Warren Ellis, oof (also, the quietly muttered "where would I be without Warren?" from Cave was touching).

I don't think he's bowing out but I agree with your assessment that he's weighing up the validity of his chosen path in life after what's happened. The stuff where he was trying to articulate what he's feeling about it all was brutal. Just so honest. Not only did he not strip it down to rote platitudes he even talked about how he wasn't going to strip it down to rote platitudes. He's clearly going out of his mind thinking about all this stuff. Although he did look remarkably together, all things considered. I can't believe his wife and surviving kid went on camera for it too. What's his twin brother really thinking? Fuck. The song over the end credits? Jesus. Wonderful direction by Andrew Dominik.

[Noodle Lizard]

Well I'm most the way through the album now (got one more track which I got pulled away from) and it's good, I reckon.  Mournful as you like, perhaps a bit samey the whole way through but I think that works.  Feels cohesive, but with recognizable tracks.  Good, I reckon.