Nick Cave ~ No More Shall We Part

Huzzah! Another month of Sundays has marched by heralding the long awaited all new album from our roving retorter Nick Cave. Endurance and perseverance seem to be the keys to listening to the new release, which at first spin might leave one covered in guffaws. For one, Mr. Cave's age-old obsessions with ancient decaying

southern landscapes have given way to his solid thematic entry into the 21st century. Among other things, Nick is now quite comforatble singing about telephones and lesbians. This is not a bad thing, but it does tend to confuse the issue as to how one wishes to consume this current opus in the wake of the old classics.

Furthermore, Nick seems to have left his dancing shoes at the door with "Let Love In." I praise the interpid DJ who takes the chance on a couple of the "rockers," but the great black masses are more likely to be coaxed into a collective weeping rather than a gothic swish dance. This album is much more a sonic outgrowth of Boatman's Call in its spareness, but neither is that necessarily a reliable guidepost. Herein lies the overall shiny beauty of Cave: he is indefinable and unpredictable and possibly unlikeable at times, but all these qualities serve only to strongly recommend ye olde indefatigable bard. The libretto of "No More" is a mixed work compared to Boatman's Call. Strange social commentary appears in almost cheesy detail (including no fewer than two songs mentioning kittens!), but repeated listens seem to smoothe out a lot of the lyrical wrinkles, particularly "God Is In the House".

Cave croons like never before, virtually to the level of purposefully falling a little outside his range, which gives the record an indescribable tense atmosphere… sort of like sitting through a rather bad film but so rooting that your favourite star will still look good in the end. Cave saves more than face,

especially in his role as surgeon, performing some masterful double bypasses with his heart-wrenching ballads ("Sweetheart Come," "Love Letter," "And No More Shall We Part") which, like Boatman's, concentrate on a sublime simplicity both of melody and of lexography.

The "rockers" operate, as such, more as a function of Nick's voice rather than the use of guitars ("The Sorrowful Wife," "As I Sat Sadly By Her Side," "Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow"). All the songs have a generally unrefined quality, which may be the final difficulty with the album, because the proceedings are a bit too sketchy to work as a single unifying concept. There are some

Some arrangements are stunning – especially "We Came Along This Road" – and the quiet inclusion of vocalists Kate and Anna McGarrigle add a mytstical beauty. There is also a choppiness that to this one good ear makes for a challenging repeat listen all the way through.

No More… contains some absolutely indespensible songs; it is a unique and gorgeous offering that requires more than the casual, pop-attuned ear to eke out the gold. Uneven, perhaps, but it's rare that an artist has the courage to offer up something less than obvious in this sadly desensitized world. O brave listener, I implore thee... onward and outward. Cave exploration is hard work but an incredibly satisfying labour. By the way, if you happen to be seeking redemption in the wake of a broken marriage, this album is for you! –Else Teicher

 

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