The Agony, Then Ecstasy, of Nick Cave: Collaborators Tell How ‘Communion’ With His Audience Transformed His Art

variety.com:

A.D. Amorosi The power of Nick Cave had forever hinged on summoning the spirits of the dark.Be it his time as frantic frontman to the clamorous Birthday Party, or since the 1984 start of a menacing solo career with the floating membership of the Bad Seeds by his side, Cave’s catalog of violence-driven characters and furiously dire narratives cut like a knife, fresh with blood and amped-up with post-punk gospel fervor.That all of this changed in 2015, with the tragic accidental death of Cave’s 15-year-old son, Arthur, exemplified “the crack in everything” that Leonard Cohen, a noted inspiration to Cave, wrote of on “Anthem”: “That’s how the light gets in.”From Cave’s family tragedy, a second family emerged: that of a devoted fan base who showered the singer and author with warmth and comfort beyond fandom. “Nick saw this incredible outpouring of love and concern for him and his family from his fans, and he was deeply and profoundly moved, transformed even,” says Cave’s closest collaborator, Warren Ellis, since 1997 a Bad Seed with whom the singer-lyricist recorded 2021’s “Carnage.”From there, states Ellis, Cave’s art and life changed, as the singer and writer opened up in a fashion he never had in the past.

A new Cave emerged, looking to fully engage more openly with the world.Once known for his distanced, adversarial, bleak and bloody narratives and existentialist murder balladeer persona, a kinder, more optimistic Cave has emerged after 2015’s tragedy.The light got in.One of the best examples of Cave’s new sense of communion occurred last Friday at Brooklyn’s opulent Kings Theatre.

There, Cave opened up to his affectionate audience in a manner rarely revealed in a live musical setting. With musical partner Ellis, Cave.