Foregrounded by the blue spotlight on the band, a piercing piano motif and a frenzied “Yeah / Yeah / Yeah” call-and-response takes the intensity from zero to a hundred, as Cave slips from his cool, crooning calm into a primal frenzy.
Across (just over) 6 minutes, the frontman launches into an epic of desire, detailing its paradoxical and torturous nature:“But I know, that to possess her / Is, therefore, not to desire her”. As the track swells in crescendos and twinkles in sparsity, the outstretched arms of fans never falter as the band spirals deeper into madness, managing to recreate the tension of torment perfectly.
From the stretching, ever-contorting body of Warren Ellis in the background, to Cave’s own glistening brow as he emphatically touches his chest and outstretches his arms, the raw and insistent execution of both Cave and The Bad Seeds is nothing short of a wonder. All without Cave even loosening his tie.
‘Live God’ is available now.
Megan-Louise Burnham
Image: Cha Gonzales