His and hearse

I have a hard time with Nick Cave's early albums. I like that they seem to come from another place and time, with good old fashioned archetypes—usually the mysterious, maybe murderous drifter recounting his bad acts and inner torment, seducing and raising hell in equal measure. And yet, my attention drifts. Like watching porn. It's easy to get numb to it.

I think Let Love In is his finest hour. It's still rough and boisterous, but the violence is more submerged and the calm bits stretch out with an eerie tension. This track is probably my favorite. As songs about death go, I'm totally in its spell. I like the funereal pace, the honest, playfully sneering reflection on a life of malice, and the way it slowly rises to a roar. Hats off to the man.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Lay Me Low