Ever since his early days as front man of the Australian post-punk band The Birthday Party, Nick Cave has enjoyed a reputation of being a well-respected singer-songwriter. After The Birthday Party broke up in 1983, Cave went on to form Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Describing their music can be a challenge as the music can vary considerably from album to album. Instead let us focus on the themes that run through their entire oeuvre as a red line: love, death, despair, violence and the ever-present self-reflection.
The track that is featured today, 'Jubilee Street', appears on their 15th studio album titled Push The Sky Away, originally released in 2015. It has grown to be one of my favorite Nick Cave albums, but it took some getting used to. To be frank, every album that Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds release takes some getting used to; you don't know which road they will be taking you on, let alone the twists and turns you'll be dealing with.
Jubilee Street is a masterpiece of a track. A spare, bleak start of the track grows methodically into a haunting crescendo that at the end matches the unfolding of the dark lyrics that are so typical for Nick Cave's work. A chord-like repetition builds up the tension masterfully into a riveting track that at the end might make you feel guilty for actually liking a track that conveys such a gloomy message. That is Nick Cave for you.
Image by Sam Barker
You can learn more about Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds here:
About The Curator - Yves Vrancken
From an early age on Yves has had the desire to share music with the world. It started with those infamous mixtapes in high school and developed into DJ'ing later on. Nowadays, Yves is an experienced Spotify playlist curator who actively manages 20+ playlists with over 100,000 total followers. Recently, he has branched out by founding his own company yvesvrancken.com that provides social media consulting, artist management and custom playlist curation. Originally from The Netherlands, Yves moved to the United States in 2004 after having met his American wife, Krystal. They have lived in the beautiful State of Colorado ever since and have a little girl named Jinxie.