Nick Cave opens up about his _calm, joyful and reckless_ friendship with Bads Seeds bandmate Warren Ellis

Credit: Discogs

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ Hanging Rock concert turned into new documentary

Tue 17 January 2023 14:35, UK

Since releasing their collaborative album, Carnage, in 2021, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have embarked on an international tour, hitting their native Australia in November and December 2022.

Now, they have shared footage of their gig at Hanging Rock, which has been made into a television special, Kingdom in the Sky, courtesy of ABC. The broadcast features performances of songs intercut with fan interviews, discussing their relationship with Cave and Ellis’ music.

Following the Australian tour, Cave has begun working on the next Bad Seeds record, which will succeed 2019’s Ghosteen. Responding to a fan question on his blog, The Red Hand Files, Cave wrote: “My plan for this year is to make a new record with the Bad Seeds. This is both good news and bad news. Good news because who doesn’t want a new Bad Seeds record? Bad news because I’ve got to write the bloody thing.”

“A kind of doldrums has set in, perennial and predictable. It’s the same with every record, I feel that familiar feeling of lack, like I’m a big, dumb blank thing in a suit.” He continued: “I started the process at 9am on January 1st. It is now January 6th – nearly a week has passed and I’ve written a few things but they aren’t very good, or maybe they are, it’s difficult to tell.”

Cave shared snippets of new lyrics he’s been working on, including “Ushering in the new year he knelt down/ And crushed his brother’s head with a bone”.

Furthermore, the musician recently responded to a fan’s AI-generated version of a Nick Cave song, which he described as “a grotesque mockery of what it is to be human, and, well, I don’t much like it.” He wrote: “The apocalypse is well on its way. This song sucks.”

Watch the documentary below.