GutterPutter

As an introduction, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is an alternative rock band from Melbourne, Australia who have been a mainstay in the music scene since 1983. Led by singer-songwriter Nick Cave, the band largely covers gothic themes around mortality, love, and religion which is made evident in their 1994 classic Let Love In. This gets further bolstered by the three-record run between 2013’s Push the Sky Away and Ghosteen in 2019 which, with diverging influence into chamber pop and electronica, was later influenced by the tragic loss of Nick’s son Arthur in 2015. The relatively prolific discography and artistic ambitions have left the band with almost a lot of creative directions to go into for their next project.

Wild God is that next project, the seemingly epic follow-up that speaks fables about fantasy, peace, and revelations. The sheer reputation of being one of the best Australian bands right now is a good enough marketing tool to generate some noise and with the successful reinventing towards experimental production, a left turn would have already been exciting. Yet, be it controversial political opinions or the simple feeling that the divergence did not go far enough, the album feels good but not “great” compared to its peers. For every clamour in the background gospel chants like in ‘Conversion’, there is the extravagant holiness in ‘Joy’ where the search for optimism feels… stereotypically hippie-esque? Compared to the fable-like assault on negativity in the former track with its growing layers of background vocals, ‘Joy’ depends on the ambient spaceness to try and elicit a form of spiritual purification. However, it winds up not only as dull, but even obnoxious in its pursuit of love.

This is a recurring problem in the album; the sense of relative lows in some songs compared to others that had nailed the emotive intent. For example, there is ‘Cinnamon Horses’ where the acknowledgement of love felt numb when paired with the refrain of “You said that”. Submerged in the horns, the synths, and the pianos is the attempt made at celebrating life, yet the instrumental mixing feels off where the instrumental climax in the end felt too muted. It does not swell up in the bid to prove the scarcity and beauty of living which then drowns out the emotional significance of the refrain. Think Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’ where the subtle addition of the trumpets and jingle did not appear when the second verse ends with the bond between two friends. 

Now, compare that to ‘O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)’ where the bittersweet ode to Cave’s former partner and ex-bandmate, the late Anita Lane, ends with a phone recording of her recognising the what-ifs of their relationship. In the midst of its piano-driven melancholia lies gratitude that the experience had happened at all which gives other tracks its bit of brevity. One major strength of Wild God is that its production obscures its percussion in favour of its other instruments with the major benefactors being the keyboards. This allows a lot of the tracks to dictate how we feel about the multiple presentations of love through the versatile melody of the synths or the pianos. Take for instance ‘Frogs’ where the repeated bar of piano notes, changing between two different keys, help to set up the holistic reconnection to God and Christianity. Or, for a more elegiac testament on making amends to your belief at an old age, ‘Long Dark Night’ where the repetitive piano grounds our attention to the feeling of renewal after a long-fought internal conflict had finally been resolved.

While the production does help to focus the instrumentation to shift our emotions a lot more sharply, it does fall into the trap of being uneven in its handling. In the introduction of ‘Song of the Lake’, the drumming gets mixed higher in relative comparison to the other tracks and the twinkly piano is present to add a sense of tranquillity to the journey that awaits us. However, the whole ordeal feels too mixed in the collection of sounds, there is little to no sense of padding made to make each instrument stand out. This makes the beginning not only feel grandiose, but contrapuntally boring which undermines the epic attempt made at highlighting the virtues of love. A similar incident is found in ‘Final Rescue Attempt’ where the climatic proclamation of love is done by a rather poorly edited layer of background vocals which mitigates the need for such, for better or for worse if you find the theme to be too on-the-nose.

One notable highlight I would like to raise before ending this review is the title track where the combination of both the mythological storytelling and more upbeat tempo makes for a compelling listen. Not only does the music as a whole pushes for optimism as had noted in the entire album, but it feels optimistic for once. The outro in particular feels rambling in a way that adds value to the song, pouring the declarative sanguinity out to the listeners and with the backing choir, its grandiosity feels wholly justified. Had that been the intro, it would have helped to set up the purpose of Wild God with far stronger conviction. There is the outro in ‘As the Waters Cover the Sea’ which recounts Jesus’s Resurrection and his renewal of “Peace and good tidings” all around the world. Yet, its piano and backing choir makes it feel inappropriately excessive compared to the title track. It feels like it would work a lot more effectively if it’s only just Cave singing to the slight reverberations of the piano.

Wild God sets out in the attempt to promote love all around the world or, at least in the Bad Seeds’ case, assures its cult following. Yet, its unflinching pursuit of such might come off as hypocritical or otherwise shallow in light of concurrent geopolitical events or resurging social crises. There is Cave’s tendency to criticise movements and phenomena like cancel culture or boycotting which are largely made as responses against perceived discrimination or disadvantages felt by minorities at least in Western countries. However strong its production can be when the album reaches its highs or how literate the lyricism can be, the subtext surrounding Wild God can feel murky in how strong its love advocacy might feel. Fans will certainly enjoy the album as some spoils given by the Bad Seeds. Others, like myself, would otherwise find it competently made, but shackled in its legacy by its leading artist’s hot takes.

3.5/5