Cave has always been a most lyrical performer and here his deep Victorian croon holds sway over largely piano based paeans to lovers far and wide, be they dark haired or green eyed. There Is A Kingdom , which seems to have been unconsciously based around the piano motif from Lou Reed's Perfect Day , it's not the anachronistic language and mythical story telling elements that normally inform his muse which are to the fore. There's an introspective devotional quality to these which is quite startling in the context of his past work. Cave's god is one spied through the beauty of women and his sorrow in their absence. Brompton Oratory in particular is a song in impotent awe of feminine whiles, whilst the album's simplest song both musically and lyrically, Black Hair , in which Cave is accompanied by a lone accordionist, is obsessive, lovelorn and melancholic.
Old themes are still present if somewhat submerged.
No Good is less a song of straight forward misanthropy than a resigned sigh at the sorrow of humanity. This certainly isn't the laugh riot of his previous long player and Cave leaves it until the last track to raise a chuckle. I've never been able to take Nick Cave particularly seriously but at the same time I've never been able to work out if he takes himself very seriously or if he's having a bit of a chuckle over all the blood spilt on bar room floors and dead girls handcuffed to beds. Whatever, this is without a doubt his silliest collection of songs to date, so much so that I could easily envisage Killdozer lampooning their way through most of this album. Of course this makes it his best work since Tender Prey .