Last week, Nick Cave surprised fans by announcing that the Bad Seeds‘ new album ‘Ghosteen’ will was on the way. Hear it below from 10pm tonight.
The Bad Seeds have been hard at work on the follow-up to their acclaimed 2016 album ‘Skeleton Tree’ for some time now. During an event in Melbourne earlier this year, the frontman gave fans an update on their progress, saying he was “very, very excited about it” and that the band would soon be wrapping up the record.
Back in September 2018, Cave’s wife Suzie Bick confirmed that the band were working on new material in Los Angeles. “Some of his songs reveal themselves at night in his fever dreams,” she said at the time. “They are his Fever Songs.”
Now, Cave has shared news on his fan Q&A page The Red Hand Files to say that a double album is on the way – describing ‘Ghosteen’ as “a migrating spirit”, and adding that the songs on part one of the record are “the children” and part two are “the parents”.
Responding to a fan asking about the new album on Red Hand Files, Cave wrote:
“Dear Joe,
You can expect a new album next week.
It is called Ghosteen.
It is a double album.
Part 1 comprises of eight songs.
The Spinning Song
Bright Horses
Waiting For You
Night Raid
Sun Forest
Galleon Ship
Ghosteen Speaks
LeviathanPart 2 consists of two long songs, linked by a spoken word piece.
Ghosteen
Fireflies
HollywoodThe songs on the first album are the children.
The songs on the second album are their parents.
Ghosteen is a migrating spirit.
“Love, Nick”
He then shared an image of the vivid artwork. ‘Ghosteen’ will premiere are 10pm on Youtube tonight (Thursday October 3). The album will then be available on vinyl and CD from 8 November, which you can pre-order here. Check out the global premiere below.
For the last year, The Bad Seeds‘ frontman has shunned conventional media interviews and focussed instead on answering questions from fans via his website The Red Hand Files. Responding to all manner of matters concerning the death of his son Arthur, inspiration, morality in rock, the “cultural sea change” facing women and his stance on the cultural boycott against Israel, Cave has been disarmingly open and honest with fans and their questions.
He recently made headlines by using the site to open up about his past relationship with PJ Harvey, and also by shooting down one “asshole” fan for sharing homophobic views.
Meanwhile, in another Red Hand Files post earlier this year, Cave teased that his band Grinderman have been working on a new album, almost a decade after their last release.