Author of one of the most inspired and innovative works in the field of rock, Nick Cave publishes wild god, There are 18my studio album with his historic group, The Bad Seeds, who had not reunited since Push the sky away, in 2013. At 66 years old, the Australian singer still manages to surprise with ten songs brimming with vitality and dreaminess, when ghost (2019) was tormented by the death of his son Arthur. Meeting in a hotel in London, the city where he lives, with an artist celebrating joy.
With the trials you went through, we never imagined that one day one of your songs would be titled Happiness (” happiness “)…
I thought about using that word as the album title. I haven’t done this because a lot of people confuse it with joy. For me joy comes out of suffering. It shows us that we are alive as ascending beings, it’s almost a religious feeling. Joy was cultivated within the mechanics of pain. This record was made by someone who has experienced loss but is fundamentally happy to exist. I couldn’t have said that five years ago.
Was it imperative to reunite The Bad Seeds – formed in 1983 – to give shape to this joy?
Absolutely. However, it was the first time I didn’t know what kind of album I wanted to make. With Bad Seeds we had reached a point where we were in danger of repeating ourselves. Burrow [Ellis, le partenaire musical de Nick Cave depuis vingt ans] And then I collaborated with other musicians to take our music in another direction. In fact, I think we were always looking for a different way to articulate the same elements. There was also the need to look after the well-being of the Bad Seeds, who had been left out. There wasn’t really a place for them on the albums. skeleton tree [2016]which should remain raw, and ghost, so vulnerable that he couldn’t play drums and bass. This time I wanted the Bad Seeds back. Here they are again, full of their wild, dangerous and rebellious energy.
Can we distinguish two periods in the history of this group? The years with Mick Harvey until 2008, and those with Warren Ellis since then?
Yes. When we left, Mick took his guitar, which strongly coloured our sound, and took away the more rock’n’roll element. We were able to start making music that I find more interesting, more experimental and abstract. Warren loves music without any postmodern irony. Unlike Blixa Bargeld [musicien allemand membre du groupe bruitiste Einstürzende Neubauten, puis des Bad Seeds jusqu’en 2003] who played the guitar while hating the guitar…
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