Life after death

Back in May, reacting to the news that Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds would be releasing a new album this month, I noted that for obvious reasons "it's a fairly safe bet it'll be a dark and difficult listen". The first taster of the forthcoming LP Skeleton Tree, 'Jesus Alone', certainly doesn't disappoint or surprise in that respect. A sombre, sinister meditation that appears to directly address the detail of the death of Cave's son Arthur and that picks up where 2013's Push The Sky Away left off, the song is without doubt one of the heaviest and most arresting things I've heard all year.