Sheffield Writer, Music /TV reviewer, & Northern Opinion Pieces

Showing posts with label blog post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog post. Show all posts

Sunday, 15 September 2024

‘WILD GOD’- Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds ***** Album Review

 




Words by Ryan Oxley      

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds released their latest album ‘Wild God’ at the end of last month and the reviews have been unanimous, in what has been described as a biblical return to form.





As an artist, Nick Cave has been around for decades, and so have I, yet I only recently discovered his music via the Peaky Blinders soundtrack. Heading to Spotify (a premium member), I devoured his back catalogue and became instantly enamoured. Nick Cave weaves indie music with biblical storytelling of loss, love, grief, resentment, and joy. Add a hint of gospel-tinged backing vocals and it's quite the spiritual awakening. Listening for the first time was like discovering the solo sounds of Morrissey. I have a new Wild God to worship, yet the congregation remains vaguely similar. Upon hearing that the band announced a world tour (to coincide with the release of WILD GOD) I got myself a ticket to Manchester this coming November and waited with ague for the album to be released. 



It's been a few weeks since release day and I’ve managed to come out of that ‘new album’ obsession (I’m autistic, it’s a literal obsession) and I decided to write a review of it! Here it is, track-by-track:


1. Song of the Lake - A characteristic intro synonymous with the bad seeds sound. There are no surprises here but with the gospel singing, and Cave’s ‘never mind’ lament - this is everything you’d expect it to be. This song reminds me of something from ‘Push The Sky Away’ which I discovered recently.


2. Wild God - the title track borrows from ‘Jubilee Street’ and tells a story of a ‘Wild God searching for a girl who died in 1993’ (or 2013?) the piano, gospel singing, and pounding drums are a driving force.  




3. Frogs - A slower song, released on Spotify first, as an album taster, and is my favourite from this latest Bad Seeds offering. The ‘Sunday Rain’ refrain and choral crescendo, juxtaposed with Nick Cave’s always powerful vocal, and frogmarching beat give this an extra-special feel   




4. Joy - Darkly beautiful. Some songs only need a two-word description and this is one of them. I’ll add ‘stunning’ as an extra superlative.  Some people would say this is a depressing sound, but I’d call it uplifting. ‘Have mercy on me, please’.


5. Final Rescue Attempt - an electro drone remains throughout the track (which reminds me of Jeff Wayne’s ‘War Of The Worlds’ for some bizarre reason) Imagery remains strong in Cave’s lyrics in this (now essential) Bad Seeds love song.  




6. Conversion - Atmospherically morose, Nick Cave preaches from his musical pulpit alongside gospel-esque backing vocals. If this song is ‘Touched by a Flame’ as the lyrics suggest, we’d all be on fire. It is a match-strike of a song that could have easily opened the album.


7. Cinnamon Horses - ‘ I told my friends that life was sweet’ but is it? Are the ‘Cinnamon Horses’ a metaphor for sadness, a lost love perhaps? Again, it's not an unexpected sound from Nick Cave, but those lyrics are beautiful, and that is something we should always expect from this master songwriter. 


8. Long Dark Night - Sometimes, you just need Nick Cave and a piano to deliver a song with moreish moroseness. 


9. Oh Wow, Oh Wow (How Wonderful She Is) - It's a Bad Seeds song with some electronica-type vocoder on it, which works. The audio sample is intriguing and worthy of further investigation. The lyrics don't need in-depth interpretation, and that's fine cos it’s Nick Cave - we don't need that when the music is as exquisite as this.


10.  As The Waters Cover The Sea -  is a slow and tender finish to the album. By this point, the ‘wild god’ has settled, but as a new convert to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, I’ll be worshipping this ‘Wild God’ for quite some time. 


Nick Cave is on tour for 2024 / 2025 and you can find out more on his website


www.ryanoxleywriter.blogspot.com




Monday, 11 July 2022

Ryan Oxley Writes

 

I've written my first two monologues, which you will find on these pages; HOTEL ROOM, and LATE NIGHT, SHEAF STREET. Both are new for 2022 and have been broadcast on BBC Radio Sheffield. I'm hoping to write many more, as the year progresses. 

Back in 2000, I began by co-writing a fanzine for the indie band 'Ocean Colour Scene' and it went from there. Through a chequered career as a radio DJ, I have often written about bands, sounds, and music through the generations. The music came first though. Well-read, yes, but never about writing words down. Anyway, about 5 years ago, I began writing for the Coronation Street Blog, and a passion was reignited. Since then, I've written countless episode reviews, cast interviews, opinion pieces, and thrown thousands of words down, about my favourite TV show. I've written theatre reviews, a few pieces about The Beatles, and my other love, Morrissey.

This is basically a simple blog to promote my writing, whatever writing I do, during the weeks, months, and years. If you fancy paying me to do it, please contact me at ryanoxley60@gmail.com 

(C) @rybazoxo 2022 

Book Reviews Archive