Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have announced their return with a new album entitled Wild God, which is set for release on August 30 via the group’s own Bad Seed Ltd. It marks the first new music from the band in five years, following on from 2019’s Ghosteen, and marks the 18th Bad Seeds album overall since the band’s 1983 formation.
To coincide with the album’s announcement, the band have released its title track as the lead single – which can be heard below. In a press statement, bandleader Nick Cave has said that there is “no fucking around” on Wild God. “When it hits, it hits,” he said. “It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it. I hope the album has the effect on listeners that it’s had on me.”
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – ‘Wild God’
Cave went on to describe Wild God as “a complicated record”, but simultaneously an album that is “deeply and joyously infectious”. “There is never a master plan when we make a record,” he said. “The records reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this? I don’t know… it seems we’re happy.”
Cave co-produced Wild God with Bad Seeds bandmate and longtime songwriting partner Warren Ellis. It marks the third consecutive Bad Seeds album that the pair have produced together, following 2017’s Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen. Dave Fridmann, best known for his work with bands such as The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, served as the album’s mixer – marking the first time he has worked with the band on a studio album.
Following the release of Ghosteen in 2019, Cave went on to record a collaborative album with Ellis while the pair were unable to tour on account of the pandemic. Carnage, their first-ever non-soundtrack album, was released in 2021.
The Bad Seeds returned to touring in 2022, in tandem with Cave and Ellis touring in support of Carnage and Cave guesting on Party Dozen‘s single ‘Macca The Mutt’. Cave then confirmed in January 2023 that he planned to enter the studio with the Bad Seeds later that year.
Cave is set to tour Australia in solo mode throughout May 2024, with many shows already sold out. He will be accompanied by Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood during the shows. Greenwood also played with Cave during the Carnage tour, and is listed as an additional contributor to Wild God.
Further Reading
Nick Cave Lists 15 Favourite Songs from His Back Catalogue
Audiobook Announced For New Nick Cave Memoir ‘Faith, Hope and Carnage’
Love Letter To A Record: ŽIVA On Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ ‘Skeleton Tree’
