Exiled Records

Reviews:

On probation from his creative muse, Nick Cave rehabbed in Tucson for a nasty,nearly 20-year heroin habit; once clean, he successfully wrote 2001's spiritually-tingedNo More Shall We Part. And so the muse relented, for Cave now delivershis finest album in ages, an inspiring blend of elegant, bluesy balladry andedgy, feral, hungry rock ‘n' roll.

Foremost among the former: the celebratory, cinematic opening track "WonderfulLife," driven by Cave's throbbing Hammond organ and Blixa Bargeld'sechoey pedal steel. Among the latter: the explosive, punk-fueled "DeadMan in My Bed" and a fifteen-minute, Bo Diddley-esque romp called, appropriatelyenough, "Babe, I'm On Fire" (both numbers are backlit by tautguitar duels and the icy screech of Warren Ellis' violin). Midway betweenthose extremes is an uplifting midtempo number, "Bring It On," alsoa life-affirmation ("Bring it on/ Every little fear/ I'll make themdisappear/ All your shattered dreams/ I'll toss them into the sea");it features guest vocals from The Saints' Chris Bailey and a rhythmic/melodicschema that's "anthemic" in every positive sense of the word.In fact, positivity is what seems to power Nocturama. Cave can stillsee through his characters' decadent eyes, but increasingly he's writingfrom a first-person perspective of marital contentment—kissed by the healingpower of love.

Cave says a nocturama is "a place where the night animals live." Ironic,no? A man who's spent his life living among the shadow-demons now defiantlylaughs at them. He's determined to have the last laugh.