Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away

The bubbling, liquid intro to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ fifteenth studio album aptly forecasts the “subtle beauty” that suffuses the whole. The first track single We No Who U R is one of the most delicate and enchanting songs of 2013. 

The album is the last effort of the Australian alternative rockers, and undoubtedly makes up for the five-year gap following Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008). Recorded at a 19^th century chateau in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, the album is the first not to feature founding member Mick Harvey, who left The Bad Seeds in January 2009. It bulges with enthralling melodies and intensely penetrating lyrics: “All among the myths and the legends we create and all the laughing stories we tell our friends, close the windows, clear up the mess, it’s getting late, it’s darker and closer to the end” from second track Wide Lovely Eyes (a lucid, crystalline ballad) is one of many examples.

Push The Sky Away was produced by Nick Launay, who also worked on Nocturama, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus and Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!, and his presence is remarkable throughout.

In the album press release, Nick Cave stated: “If I were to use that threadbare metaphor of albums being like children, then Push The Sky Away is the ghost-baby in the incubator and Warren’s [Ellis, The Bad Seeds’ violinist and multi-instrumentalist] loops are its tiny, trembling heart-beat.” And it does sound like that, come to think of it. With dazzling tunes and a momentous bond between lyrics and melodies, Push The Sky Away fascinates listeners and fills them with existential awe.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds staged an exceptional come-back with the release of the album’s lead single in December 2012, making fans salivate at what was to come – and they will not be disappointed. Beautifully performed by the Australian masters of alt rock, Push The Sky Away will enrich and inspire you.

Eleonora Ricotta

Push The Sky Away is released on 18^th February 2013. For further information or to order the album visit Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ website here.

Watch the video for We No Who U R here: