When Nick spoke of the Bad Seeds' 15th album 'Push The Sky Away' prior to its release, he described it as an album of ballads. However, it wasn't, he claimed, another 'Boatman's Call'. How right he was. 'Push The Sky Away' turned out to be one of the best records of his entire career. I'd even put it in my top 3. These songs were certainly not ballads in the conventional sense, but they were far from the loud feedback-swathed racket that graced 'Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!' and the Grinderman records. Two songs in particular stand out as among his best ever work. One of them will feature later in this series, but the other - today's pick - is simply astonishing. This version of Higgs Boson Blues is longer than the album version and sounds live, although I think that may just be Nick's vocal. To this day, his lyrics about Miley Cyrus crease me up, particularly:
"Hannah Montana does the African Savannah
As the simulated rainy season begins
She curses the queue at the Zulus (zoo loos???)
And moves on to Amazonia
And cries with the dolphins."
Genius
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely terrific.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fantastic. And I agree that 'Push The Sky Away' is one of his best moments in his career.
ReplyDeleteIt's an astonishing album on so many fronts.
ReplyDeleteI was nervous that the loss of Mick Harvey would be a backwards step for the band. This, as you say, is among his best ever albums.