Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

There was a film from the 90s, a small masterpiece which I reviewed some time ago, titled "He Died with a Felafel in His Hand", where one of the main characters puts on a Nick Cave record (specifically "The Mercy Seat") and attempts suicide by locking herself in the bathroom.

Well, the idea of a depressed Cave, a damned Cave, post-punk and almost gothic, an excellent artist as a backdrop for a suicide, is overturned by the 14th studio album made with the Bad Seeds, a real breath of fresh air and positivity that hits the ears of the listener with simple and direct rock. No virtuosic experimentation, no hint of heaviness in the arrangements and lyrics, no depression lurking around the corner: "Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!" is a succession of almost playful tracks, practically all of which are successful in their intent of providing basic yet precise and curated musical entertainment. Moreover, the period is prolific: it's 2008 and in recent years our Nick has released albums in succession (the monumental and heavy "Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus", the mediocre "Nocturama", the short but intense experience with Grinderman), has written soundtracks, co-written film scripts, and even appeared in a cameo in "Jesse James".

So let's enjoy this album that seems to have been written specifically to be played live, with the rough opening entrusted to the title track, yet another piece in Cave's discography that makes us want to drink whiskey accompanied by a Toscano, immediately followed by a little gem, "Today's Lesson", with its almost pop-like keyboards and its stadium chant finale ("We're going to have a real good time tonight! Come on! Tonight!"). "Albert Goes West" reaches great heights, a smashing almost noise track framed by skillful choral warbles, "Night Of The Lotus Eaters," hypnotic, whispered and brimming with percussion, "Lie Down Here," with its distorted guitars and brief piano incursions.

References to the Bible, death, contemporaneity, a melting pot in which music is always the most important piece, as perhaps it should be, in an album that has no exaggerated pretensions, except to be appreciated and to evoke more than one emotion. Mission accomplished.