- Glamorgan approach Hollywood's Reynolds and McElhenney over Hundred investment
- League Cup still 'significant' for Man Utd boss Ten Hag
- Brazil's farmers fret over fires and drought
- Top Biden aide says US economy at 'turning point'
- US military says withdrawal from Niger is complete
- Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final
- Toll hits 17 as Storm Boris lashes central Europe
- Hamas chief says ready for 'long war' in Gaza
- Suspect in Trump assassination attempt charged with gun crimes
- Iran's new president vows to ensure morality police don't 'bother' women
- Australia put teenage quick Beardman on standby for England ODIs
- Americans, Swiss snatch lifeline in Louis Vuitton Cup
- Trump blames Biden and Harris 'rhetoric' for assassination bids
- Ex-BBC anchor avoids jail over 'repugnant' images of children
- Brentford forward Wissa out for 'a couple of months'
- Titanic shipbuilder sinks back into trouble
- Where in the world is closest to becoming a '15-minute city'?
- Russia evacuates border villages in Kursk region
- US election in newly volatile territory after Trump alleged assassination bid
- France probes online threats against Afghan taekwondo fighter
- Sinner hires Djokovic's ex-fitness coach after dope test row
- Swifties raise $40k in wake of Trump post hating on star
- Fear and tears as Storm Boris wrecks Czech town
- Penpix of candidates to succeed Bach as IOC President
- Azerbaijan Grand Prix - three things we learned
- AC Milan midfielder Bennacer out for four months
- British politics and fashion collide at London Fashion Week
- French YouTuber hits peak with Everest documentary
- Athletics legend Coe vies with six rivals for IOC presidency
- Bellingham, Tchouameni back for Madrid's Champions League opener
- Stock markets diverge before Fed as China woes weigh
- French jihadist linked to Charlie Hebdo attackers goes on trial
- Bombshell as France's Breton slams door on EU commission
- African players in Europe: Wissa 22-second goal in vain
- Storm Boris unleashes central Europe flooding, toll hits 11
- Man City fight to avoid severe sanctions as 'trial of the century' begins
- UK PM Starmer meets Italy's Meloni for illegal immigration talks
- Van Dijk urges Liverpool to hit back after 'unacceptable' Forest loss
- Ex-BBC anchor Huw Edwards to be sentenced over indecent child images
- France's Breton quits EU Commission in reappointment row
- Violence, threats hang over Trump-Harris race after turbulent weekend
- Sho-what? Japan celebrates little heard-of Emmys winner
- Tito Jackson, member of the Jackson 5, dies at 70
- Hong Kong man faces jail over 'seditious' T-shirt
- EU to name new defence tsar - but is the job a dud?
- Vietnam puts typhoon losses at $1.6 billion
- Europe's EV troubles bubble up at Brussels Audi factory
- Germany expands border controls to curb migrant arrivals
- 'Disappeared completely': melting glaciers worry Central Asia
- Villa return to Champions League primed to ruffle feathers again
RBGPF | 8.3% | 62.16 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.46% | 6.59 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.28% | 25.04 | $ | |
RIO | 1.04% | 63.205 | $ | |
VOD | 1.64% | 10.34 | $ | |
SCS | 1.46% | 13.994 | $ | |
AZN | 0.82% | 78.92 | $ | |
BTI | 0.47% | 39.355 | $ | |
GSK | 1.18% | 43.525 | $ | |
BCC | -0.95% | 134.585 | $ | |
NGG | 0.88% | 70.22 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.16% | 25.06 | $ | |
RELX | 0.7% | 48.045 | $ | |
JRI | 0.75% | 13.29 | $ | |
BP | 1.29% | 32.255 | $ | |
BCE | -0.57% | 34.47 | $ |
Nick Cave says grief gives way to 'hope' after tragedies
Australian cult rocker Nick Cave, known for his dark and stormy ballads, released his latest album Friday, a record he describes as "the light flooding in" again after the death of two sons.
Cave's last albums were haunted by the tragedies. But that sadness has now given way to joy.
It was a new Nick Cave who on Thursday evening in London greeted an audience of journalists and a few fans to present the new record.
Still dandy in trademark dark suit and long brown hair, the singer-composer, known for the unsparing emotional intensity of his lyrics, appeared relaxed and even light-hearted.
Nick Cave said "Wild God", his 18th album with his band the Bad Seeds, was a "joyful record".
"Wild God is the sound of the curtain drawn back and the light flooding in, a light that at times feels almost overwhelming. There is hope. Wonder too," he said.
The 66-year-old Australian, has a 40-plus year career behind him filling concert halls but has never become mainstream.
One of his biggest hits was the macabre "Where the Wild Roses Grow" with Australian pop star Kylie Minogue in 1995.
More recently, the disturbing "Red Right Hand" was chosen as the theme song for the series Peaky Blinders, about Birmingham gangsters.
The music on the new album is intense, softened by choirs. Tracks that he particularly likes include "Frogs" and "Conversion".
- Double tragedy -
It's a notable shift from his last album with the Bad Seeds, "Ghosteen" (2019).
That record was imbued with the memory of his son Arthur, 15.
The teenager died in 2015 in a cliff fall in Brighton on England's south coast after taking LSD for the first time.
In 2022, Cave also lost another son, 31-year-old Jethro Lazenby, whose cause of death has not been made public.
Cave has shared his grief with his fans in songs and at concerts.
But "Wild God" marks a new phase in the grieving process.
"The record does not shy away from certain things. It reveals the capacity to feel other emotions," he said.
Physically, Cave looks like he has not changed in years.
"I don't know what it was. Twenty years of heroin addiction? And a good face cream," he joked.
- 'Disgraceful self indulgence' -
But the double tragedy has changed him profoundly.
He has admitted on Australian television that for a long time he had been "in awe of my own genius".
Back then his life consisted of sitting in his office and writing every day. Everything else was just "peripheral".
Since the death of his sons, however, "this just collapsed completely and I just saw the folly of that, the kind of disgraceful self-indulgence of the whole thing", he told Australia's national broadcaster ABC.
His relationship with his audience has changed too.
"They saved me in a way," he said, adding that he has created a website, the Red Hand Files, as a way to "give them something back".
People write to him from all over the world to confide in him and ask for advice on coping with the loss of a loved one.
And Cave writes back. Asked recently by one correspondent what makes him happy, he explained that it was "my love affair with cold-water swimming" in lakes and in the sea off Brighton where he lives.
"It's a very strange thing what happens with the Red Hand Files. Week after week. It has changed me hugely. It's like looking into the souls of my fans."
For now Cave is looking forward to a European tour later this year, with some dates already sold out.
"It's going to be awesome," he added.
R.Veloso--PC