Nick Cave: “Writing songs is a bloody nightmare”

On August 30th Nick Cave will release his new studio album with his Bad Seeds, entitled “Wild God“. In view of the album’s release, already anticipated by the title track and the song “Frogs“, the Australian singer-songwriter gave an interview to “Mojo” during which he described the process of writing a song as “a damn nightmare“.

Revealing that she finds the songwriting process challenging and often finds herself wanting to put off writing, the “Skeleton Tree” vocalist said:

“I don’t like writing songs. Writing a song is a deeply mysterious, abstract, anxiety-filled process that’s not fun at all. Playing with the idea is fun, but following it through is a nightmare. So I put it off until I can’t put it off any longer.”

During the interview for Mojo, Nick Cave also talked about his previous album with the Bad Seeds, “Ghosteen” (read the review here) in 2019, which continued the mourning process for the loss of her son Arthur in 2015, and about its making she said: “I’m glad it exists, but it was painful to realize.. I hate hearing bands talk about the pain of making a record, because I don’t believe it. But ‘Ghosteen’ had its agonies, for sure, and it’s not something I would want to repeat“.

The chat, however, also focused on Cave and his band’s next studio work, “Wild God“, which the musician himself described on his website “The Red Hand Files” as “an album full of secrets”. “I hope the album has the same effect on listeners as it did on me.“, revealed the 66-year-old artist: “It explodes from the speakers and completely overwhelms me. It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyfully infectious.“. He added:

“There’s never a plan when we make a record. Records are more of a reflection of the emotional state of the writers and musicians who made them. Listening to it, I don’t know, it sounds like we’re happy. There’s no messing around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you up. It moves you. That’s what I love about this record.”

Speaking about the new album, Nick Cave later stressed: “I think songs don’t start revealing themselves to me until we start playing them live.. I was nervous about this interview because I was like, ‘Damn, what is this record really about?’ If I tried to explain it now, I’d do a terrible job because I don’t really know. The songs seem to me to be a series of conversions: something transforming into something else.“.

As a preview of the album, Cave has also shared a “making of” video directed by Megan Cullen and recorded at Miraval Studios in France, featuring Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood. “Wild God” will be presented live by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds with a tour that will also stop in Italy for a single date scheduled for October 20th at the Assago Forum