Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Share ‘Earthlings,’ From Their Forthcoming ‘B-Sides & Rarities Part II’

Last month, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds announced plans to release a follow-up to 2005’s B-Sides & Rarities, simply called B-Sides & Rarities Part II, arriving on October 22 on double vinyl, double CD, deluxe double CD and all digital platforms. Ahead of the release, they shared the previously unreleased track “Vortex.” Now, they’ve followed up with “Earthlings,” an eerie, haunted-sounding song that features thundering choral harmonies.

An unheard track from the 2018-2019 sessions that became Ghosteen, “Earthlings” is, as Cave puts it, “the finest track of the Ghosteen sessions,” adding: “‘Earthlings’ is the missing link that binds Ghosteen together. A lovely song that just got away…”

Featuring 27 rare and unreleased tracks that span the years between 2006 and 2020 (including the first recordings of “Skeleton Tree,” “Girl In Amber,” and “Bright Horses”), B-Sides & Rarities Part II was compiled by Nick Cave and longtime band member Warren Ellis. “I always liked the original B-Sides & Rarities more than any of our other albums,” Cave said in a statement last month. “It’s the only one I’d listen to willingly. It seems more relaxed, even a bit nonsensical in places, but with some beautiful songs throughout. There is something, too, about the smallness of certain songs that is closer to their original spirit.

B-Sides & Rarities Part II continues this strange and beautiful collection of lost songs from The Bad Seeds,” added Cave. “I love the final side of the last disc because it reveals the small and fragile beginnings of some of my favorite Bad Seeds songs. ‘Waiting For You’ complete with bizarre ‘canning factory’ rhythm track, a gorgeous ‘Life Per Se’ deemed too sad for Skeleton Tree…”

Check out “Earthlings” above. B-Sides & Rarities Part II is out 10/22. Pre-order it here.

×