Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds- Push The Sky Away

 

If I had  to pick out one man, one artist to consider as my favorite of all time that artist would have to be Nick Cave. Nick Cave has put out 3 decades full of music. All different genres, all quality. From fast jazz like hell raising punk music in his band The Birthday Party, the wide range Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, to the 'old guys playing garage rock' Grinderman. Nick Cave has done it all and is great doing it.

Nick Cave is obviously best when with The Bad Seeds, so I was pretty excited to hear him get back with The Bad Seeds. Only this time around key member and longtime friend/collaborator Mick Harvey decided to call a quits last record. Yet this is not a lost because Nick gained another collaborator, Warren Ellis. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have created soundtracks for movies in the past years and Warren Ellis sound is apparent in the last Bad Seed album, Grinderman, and this latest one. 

The Warren Ellis 'sound' from Grinderman and Dig Lazarus Dig is strong on this one but its a lot more mellowed down than the straightforward rock sound. Which was a huge joy for me cause after Dig Lazarus Dig and Grinderman that sound was getting pretty tiresome. With this album Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds strive to make a subtle and beautiful records that sounds like its on the verge of a typical Nick Cave outburst of previous albums, only on this song Nick Cave is contained making the record a great listen. The music is soft and the instrumentation build and builds until the tracks just repeat the intense sequences of instruments over Nick Cave's voice. The album is sparse and dense yet has lots of subtle instrumentation that rewards the listeners with its underlying beauty and soft intensity. With each track sort of repeating itself, the track itself is minimalistic in a sense. The tracks are contained and don't wonder off. The results of the sounds are hypnotic and not to distracting unlike previous garage rock sounding albums from Nick Cave. Yet the music reviles each of the talented members of The Bad Seeds by having the listeners catch on the subtleties of the music.I feel its very important to really give The Bad Seeds props on their musicality because most reviews tend to focus on Nick Cave, which I see why, but without the band Nick Cave would be lost and he would even say so.

With this album Nick Cave isn't doing anything new but being Nick Cave. But he is being a better Nick Cave than he has been on the previous album and with Grinderman. Nick Cave returns to his more ballad, introspective side as well as the mad storyteller that he is. Each track is filled with wonderful lyrics, especially Jubilee Street and We No Who U R. Like the music, Nick Cave seems to be contained as well. There moments in which you think Nick Cave is gonna burst in typical Nick Cave fashion but he keeps his cool and continues the story on songs like We Real Cool and Higgs Boson Blues. Nick Cave reminds me more of Leonard Cohen, one of his own personal heroes, after each release. In this album Nick Cave sounds mature and he sounds as if he has mastered what he does. His vocal performance is a nice mix of the softer Nick Cave and the aggressive 90s era Nick Cave. Nick Caves voice, lyrics, and the music combined make the listener want to pay attention, that is if your a Nick Cave fan already. If you a first time Nick Cave listener I feel this album will be sort of lost on you.

Yet some of the album does come off as to me as boring and filler, but this is only two songs and those are Mermaids and the lackluster Push The Sky Away. This album is one of the better Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds output of the later Nick Cave era. The album is solid enough, for fans like myself, without too many complaints. Overall I am pleased with the album as a fan, if you are a Nick Cave fan and loved The Boatmans Call then you will love this album, if you are new to Nick Cave you might like it if you want something soft,simple, and layered.

I think a good 7.5/10 would satisfy the album. Has lots of strong elements, few weak moments, but might wear off after awhile.