New Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Single Posted

So the first single from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds' forthcoming album, Dig, Lazerus, Dig has been released to radio, or at least Radio 1 in the UK. Nick warned all that this would not sound like anything he's ever done with the Bad Seeds, and based on a couple of listens to the title track, I would have to say that he was spot on. Here is a little insight from Nick himself into the concept of the album.

"Ever since I can remember hearing the Lazarus story, when I was a kid, you know, back in church, I was disturbed and worried by it. Traumatized, actually. We are all, of course, in awe of the greatest of Christ's miracles - raising a man from the dead - but I couldn't help but wonder how Lazarus felt about it. As a child it gave me the creeps, to be honest. I've taken Lazarus and stuck him in New York City, in order to give the song, a hip, contemporary feel. I was also thinking about Harry Houdini who spent a lot of his life trying to debunk the spiritualists who were cashing in on the bereaved. He believed there was nothing going on beyond the grave. He was the second greatest escapologist, Harry was, Lazarus, of course, being the greatest. I wanted to create a kind of vehicle, a medium, for Houdini to speak to us if he so desires, you know, from beyond the grave. Sometimes, late at night, if you listen to the song hard enough, you can hear his voice and the sad clanking of his chains. "I don't know what it is but there is definitely something going on upstairs", he seems to be saying. It is, most of all, an elegy to the New York City of the 70's." - Nick Cave

The single will be available as a limited edition 7", CD and download on February 18, and we'll have to wait for the full record until March 14. Here's a little sneak peak at the title track from the new album. It is quite different, but still Nick at the core and I quite like it. Judge for yourself.

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (radio rip)
File removed at the insistence of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)