Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - He Wants You / Babe I'm On Fire (Mute)
release date: June 2 2003
"He wants you," intones Nick Cave on the opening slow melodic ballad, adding "and he is straight and he is true." The long-suffering lad uses his desire as a metaphor for God, or the other way around. In this gothic universe of intense feeling Cave's music catches at the heart, making you gasp for breath and carrying you home. It's Cave at his best - a beautiful song played and sung with emotional precision.
Babe I'm On Fire is the perfect pairing, showcasing the Bad Seeds' shambolic expertise. A marvellous bass riff holds the centre while all else whirls into a breakneck fairground blur.
The two additional tracks are the creepy and lyrical Little Ghost Song and the moodily metaphysical Everything Must Converge. They are a real, as opposed to a nominal, bonus. Though slighter than the power and insistence of the title tracks (both from the album Nocturama) they are little gems in their own right.
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