Few bands have the boldness to diversify their musical palette over the span of four decades, and even fewer can do so in a way that consistently impresses fans and critics alike. Recognized for their commitment to engaging stories and grandiose performances for Let Love In, Murder Ballads, and Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus among many others, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have been building up their discography since the 1980’s, and it’s been nothing short of daring. Along with collaborations with Warren Ellis on 2018’s Carnage, Cave has retained his eccentric persona and penchant for storytelling over a myriad of different musical backdrops including electronica, gospel ballads and garage rock.
It’s been five years since the group released Ghosteen, which was met with critical acclaim as one of the best albums from the last decade. Building off of the prior albums Push The Sky Away and Skeleton Tree, this LP served as the last installment in a trilogy and was dedicated to the loss of Cave’s son. The album features some of the most personal lyrics Cave has penned amidst an ambient, electronic sound that starkly contrasts the piano ballads and blistering noise rock the group is famous for, yet it was as emotionally stirring as it was insightful to how Cave processed his grief.
Promising a sound that moves away from what was established by previous albums, and towards something familiar for fans, the group’s newest project Wild God has been one of the most anticipated releases of this year. The singles “Wild God”, “Frogs”, and “Long Dark Night” all have a sound that’s grand in its presentation, accompanied with a swelling orchestral sound and gospel choir backing vocals reminiscent of those found in Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus. The band’s return to a style that’s comfortable for them has been welcomed by fans, especially preceding the personal meditations on death from past records; but it raises the question of how closely the group will play to their strengths, and if they’ll forgo wild experimentation. Will the band tread into already ventured territory and risk sounding tired? To answer simply, kind of. But for a late stage album, the vocal performances from Cave along with the tracklist’s dramatic flow keep it from becoming stale, and it showcases the band’s renewed sense of energy.
Wild God opens with “Song of the Lake”, filled with allusions to nursery rhymes along with imagery of a man caught between pursuing a woman in a lake or remaining on the shore, despite both options leading to his demise. The gospel choir vocals and religious themes remain prevalent for the entirety of the album, which sets the stage for single “Wild God” to follow. Over a regal-sounding melody, ideal for storytelling, Cave sings about the titular Wild God’s pursuit for a girl whose nature remains elusive and nearly incorporeal. The last minute and a half builds to an explosive climax as Cave’s vocals turn into grand proclamations of yearning for companionship. The single “Frogs” comes shortly after with synth-heavy instrumentals which wind and evolve into a kaleidoscopic experience, juxtaposing Cave’s occasionally violent lyrics. The track ends as a heavenly, psychedelic rock epic with Cave shouting, “Kill me! Kill me!” in an otherwise triumphant sounding song.
The tracklist starts to slow down past this point with “Joy”, a well-meaning but ultimately aimless song that doesn’t show Cave at a lyrical high point. A reflection on the joy to be found in life even in the midst of feelings of anger in the world, the track suffers from a self-imposed sense of importance which borders on pretension and could have been trimmed down a minute or two. The fifth track, “Final Rescue Attempt” builds on the same lyrical themes of the past few tracks regarding salvation and the search for human connection, but it lacks the same intensity found at the beginning of the album. It feels more like filler, and it mainly serves as a transition to the next song, “Conversion”. The first two minutes of this song are slow as Cave sets up the story of a woman being drawn in by the allure of an old god, much like a moth to a flame. This soft piano ballad later erupts into a flurry of gospel vocals and features Cave’s most intense performance, enrapturing listeners into the religious ecstasy of this conversion and resulting in the best track on the album. The emotional potency and world-shattering heights of the second half of the track built off of the balladry of the first half prove to be incredibly effective in capturing the energy Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are most known for.
The seventh track, “Cinnamon Horses” slows things down again and gives a much needed reprieve from the dramatics of the last song, with the last minute containing a melody eerily similar to the one found in one of Cave’s most popular songs, “Do You Love Me?”. Though the songwriting and instrumental progression in this track isn’t nearly as strong as in “Do You Love Me?”, the lyrics about the enduring nature of sweetness and the pains and joys of love are compelling enough to maintain the album’s narrative and interesting enough to keep listeners engaged. The third single “Long Dark Night” is the eighth song in the tracklist, and it serves as a companion to “Wild God”. This song is told from the perspective of the girl that the “Wild God” is pursuing, sung over a patient piano ballad, a style of song that Nick Cave excels at.
The penultimate track, “O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)” is an ode to Anita Lane, an old friend and collaborator of Nick Cave who passed in 2021, and features a sample of a voice recording towards the end. While it isn’t the strongest moment on the record – the vocoder stands out as one of the more jarring moments on the album – it serves as an effective means to signal the end and brings together previous themes of religious salvation, godliness, human companionship and love, despite it proceeding in a somewhat predictable manner. This is followed by the final track “As the Waters Cover the Sea,” a brief closing statement that ends the album with “peace and good tidings to all”. For an album with such explosive moments of grandeur, the finale feels a bit underwhelming in comparison.
Wild God proves itself to be a pleasantly hopeful record that tells a story of salvation and connection with others, even if it does so in a somewhat expected manner for this group. There’s an undeniable passion that’s displayed beautifully by the gospel influences and poetic musings Cave manages to turn into grand proclamations. However, there are still several moments that feel more like a retread of past sounds. The weaker tracks tend to go on meandering religious pretentiousness that reads as a worse version of the band’s most iconic albums. Wild God ultimately delivers on its promise of an exciting rock epic, although the sounds on this project, while regularly impressive, lack the experimental edge of previous records. Regardless, fans should be pleased with this latest release, and new listeners will likely be engaged by the performances. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have proven that they still have the energy to carry a lesser record and have left audiences awaiting a future jump into the fray of musical experimentation.
