It’s a lockdown project…Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are working on a new album called ‘CARNAGE’.
The Australian songwriter revealed plans to “make a new record” on The Red Hand Files last year, but refused go further.
Now in a fresh epistle, Nick Cave has dived into this project, revealing that it is called ‘CARNAGE’.
Asked how he responded to lockdown, he commented:
“In many ways lockdown has felt weirdly familiar, like I’ve experienced it before. 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.”
Nick Cave insisted he was “doing okay” despite the “devastation and anguish caused by the pandemic”, but admitted he was “surprised” by how much he missed touring.
He explained: “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.”
Finishing, he wrote: “Anyway, as promised in my last issue, I did go into the studio – with Warren – to make a record. It’s called CARNAGE. Love, Nick.”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their album ‘Ghosteen’ in 2019; last year brought Nick Cave’s live project ‘Idiot Prayer’.
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