The most recent album from Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds is 2016’s Skeleton Tree, which topped the charts in a number of countries, including Cave’s native Australia. Now the group is ready to release that record’s follow-up, as Cave announced that a new album called Ghosteen will be released “next week.”
In his “The Red Hand Files” newsletter, Cave wrote in a note addressed to a fan, “Dear Joe, You can expect a new album next week. It is called Ghosteen. It is a double album. Part 1 comprises of eight songs. […] Part 2 consists of two long songs, linked by a spoken word piece. […] The songs on the first album are the children. The songs on the second album are their parents. Ghosteen is a migrating spirit.” He quickly followed that post up with another note sharing the album’s artwork.
It seems possible the album title was inspired by Arthur Cave, Nick Cave’s son who died at 15 years old after falling off a cliff in 2015. He penned an open letter about his son’s death at the time, writing, “If we love, we grieve… I feel the presence of my son, all around, but he may not be there.”
Check out the Ghosteen album art and tracklist below.
1. “The Spinning Song”
2. “Bright Horses”
3. “Waiting For You”
4. “Night Raid”
5. “Sun Forest”
6. “Galleon Ship”
7. “Ghosteen Speaks”
8. “Leviathan”
9. “Ghosteen”
10. “Fireflies”
11. “Hollywood”
