Nocturama

More Morosity
by: peter naldrett - uk correspondent

And so Nick Cave returns once again with yet another studio album. Along with his Bad Seeds, Cave has now unleashed 12 long-players on us, all of them full of morose and depressive personal rants. There was one optimistic point in Cave’s career when it looked as though he might be destined for great things. When he collaborated with artists such as Kylie and PJ Harvey to produce those enigmatic murder ballads he really touched a nerve and his sometimes uncertain vision became clear.

But with Nocturama there is nothing so optimistic. Cave is back producing more of the same. More morose songs, more depressive songs. And while musically this may maintain interest longer than is normally the case, Cave’s vocals are typically overplayed and irrelevant in the big scheme of things.

Nocturama kicks off with "Wonderful Life," which in a dark, rambling seven minutes states that life can indeed be wonderful… “if you can find it.” Nothing is hopeful is as it seems on a Nick Cave album, and more miserable self-indulgence follows in the guise of "He Wants You," "Bring It On" and "Right Out Of Your Hand." When we get to the insanely titled "Dead Man In My Bed," things start to liven up but this is only a cue for Cave to start screeching and shouting into the mic. I think I preferred him with his dark head on, but there’s plenty more of that to come in the last track, "Babe I’m On Fire." This is a track that goes on and on for over fifteen minutes seemingly without going anywhere; and that takes some doing.

Nocturama was recorded last year in Melbourne, Australia, and mixed in London, but I recommend you go half way around the way to avoid it. 13-Jan-2003 10:16 PM