It is impossible to write about a person and a band that are so perfect, that no words can do them justice. All the words and phrases that float about your head then crash into some kind of frenzy just aren’t good enough to sum up everything you are hearing and everything it makes you feel. You can wait forever fo this (by “forever” I mean a few years) and when it hits you, it is the most glorious feeling ever. I’ve been reluctant to write anything recently because I heard the new record by a band that I’ve loved from a very very young age. A band that after 21 years released a new record. There wasn’t much hype, just sincere anticipation. Patience failed me that day, and I felt uneasy writing about anything. Thus proving, not everything is worth waiting for.

But Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds you see mean more. A lot more. Nick Cave is on a par with Morrissey and Patti Smith; he means that much to me. The words, the wisdom, the voice; it is everything. Was waiting for Push The Sky Away worth it? Thankfully it is. It exceeds all expectations and fills a music based gap. It feels like a dream that we have that haunts us yet we allow it to hold some meaning, and everything we do is a step to figuring it all out.

Writing about Nick Cave in any capacity is something that makes you realise how much you love him. As I listen to Push The Sky Away, I feel like that 4-year-old who sat staring at my uncle’s poster of him on his wall. I stared at it for what seemed hours. My gran used to find me staring at this poster and I remember asking her, “Who is that man?” And she said, “That’s Nick Cave.” I remember it so well, and the look in Nick’s eyes in the poster. It made me feel like he was staring at me. Maybe it was a sign, I have no idea. I’m not that mental. But go forward into my early teens and an obsession flared up and stayed with me ever since. As I listen to Push The Sky Away, I feel like that 4-year-old left in awe of someone who would later become my hero for many many reasons.

Push The Sky Away is a record that I feel is a lot more relaxed than any other The Bad Seeds record. My heart is always going to be with The Birthday Party, just because I love the sheer aggression in the music. However, with The Bad Seeds there is a lot more poetry and soul to the music. Of course Nick Cave is basically a poet, regardless of who he is making music with. But with The Bad Seeds, there is an element of poetry to it all. There are so many romantic tones drifting in and out of Push The Sky Away, and these are the reasons as to why I adore Nick Cave. He can be utterly dark yet so tender with his words at the same time. There aren’t many that do this, and if they do; do they do it as well as Nick Cave? Well, that’s a personal opinion. Don’t force it upon anyone.

Higgs Boson Blues is easily my favourite off Push The Sky Away. Maybe after I’ve played it a few more (hundred) times I may change my mind. I’m not entirely sure, but Higgs Boson Blues makes you shut your eyes and imagine you are sat next to Nick Cave driving to nowhere in particular. The open windows cause the dust in the roads to hit your eyes, mildly irritating them but as you wipe it away it is like wiping away the dirt of life. Push The Sky Away is like a re-birth, a cleansing of the soul and the start of something new. All you once had no longer matters. You’ll find meaning in any song by The Bad Seeds. You’ll find anything and everything. A swirl of emotions that make you realise that THIS is the record you have been waiting for.