Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Announce New Album, ‘CARNAGE’
Nick Cave announced that he has been working on a brand new album, called CARNAGE.
The news was revealed on his website The Red Hand Files, in response to a question from a fan, Tobias. Asked how Nick Cave was finding lockdown, he said:
“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. For me, lockdown feels like a state mandated version of more of the same — a formalisation of the kind of hermit-like behaviour to which I’ve always been predisposed, and so, as difficult as it has been to see the devastation and anguish caused by the pandemic — including to the lives of those close to me, and many who have written into The Red Hand Files — I have been doing okay.
I am surprised, though, at just how hard not being able to play live has felt. 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.
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”
The album will follow 2019’s critically acclaimed Ghosteen, and 2020’s Idiot Prayer, a virtual performance streamed from Alexandra Palace of Cave performing solo at the piano.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds were forced to cancel their 2021 UK and European tour to support Ghosteen, due to the global coronavirus panic. In a statement, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds said, “We are continuing to work on alternative plans for 2021 and 2022 and hope to announce some better news next year. Sending love to you all.”
One of those alternative plans has been revealed: CARNAGE.