Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds have shared ‘Long Dark Night’, the third single from their upcoming album ‘Wild God‘.
The song is inspired by the poem Dark Night of the Soul by Spanish 16th-century poet, St. John of the Cross, and echoes it’s themes of crisis, struggle and transcendence.
In the introspective ballad, Cave sings: “To tell a dream, when dreaming is all you ever do /But things were not so good, I can’t make light of it /My poor soul, it was having a dark night of it /It was a long night, a week, maybe a year.”
Cave explained the track was inspired by one of the “greatest and most powerful poems of conversion ever written”, adding: “Ultimately, though, it’s a beautiful country tune. It feels like a sweet companion to the song, ‘Wild God’.”
The forthcoming album’s titular song was released as the lead single back in March, and was followed by the “exuberant” ‘Frogs’ in May. You can pre-order the LP here.
‘Wild God’ is set for release on August 30, and Cave has shared his hopes that the 10-track record will have the same effect on listener’s and it did on him. “It bursts out of the speaker, and I get swept up with it,” he said. “It’s a complicated record, but it’s also deeply and joyously infectious.
“There is never a masterplan when we make a record. The records rather reflect back the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know, it seems we’re happy,” he added. “There’s no fucking around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it.”
To celebrate the launch of ‘Wild God’, Cave announced an exclusive Q&A session in London hosted by Rough Trade on Thursday August 29. The audience will have the opportunity to listen to the album in full for the first time before its official release, and put their questions to the frontman directly.
Fans can enter a draw for the chance to attend the session by pre-ordering ‘Wild God’ via Rough Trade before 5pm BST on Thursday, August 15.
Elsewhere, Cave also announced a 2024 UK and Europe tour set to kick off in Germany this September, continuing through October before a UK leg in November. You can buy tickets here (UK and Ireland) and here (Europe).
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