Skeleton Tree

by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Skeleton Tree cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 9 September 2016
  • Label: Bad Seed Ltd.
  • Country: Australia
  • Length: 39:42
  • Community rating: 4.38/5 from 22 ratings

Artists on this release: Nick Cave, Martyn Casey, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, Thomas Wydler, George Vjestica

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Marked by a profound shift in sound, 'Skeleton Tree' envelops the listener in a sparse, ambient world built from synthesizers, drum machines, and dissonant, avant-garde structures. The album’s recording was famously shadowed by personal tragedy, which is reflected in Nick Cave's raw, semi-improvised vocal delivery and allegorical lyrics that largely abandon character-based narratives for meditations on loss, death, and grief. This results in a work of stark, electronic-infused minimalism that documents the aftermath of trauma with a harrowing and vulnerable intimacy.

Genres

Descriptors: sorrowful, minimal, ambient, confessional, dynamic, folk, piano, grief, atmospheric, personal

Tracklist

  1. Jesus Alone (05:52)
  2. Rings Of Saturn (03:28)
  3. Girl In Amber (04:51)
  4. Magneto (05:22)
  5. Anthrocene (04:34)
  6. I Need You (05:58)
  7. Distant Sky (05:36)
  8. Skeleton Tree (04:01)

Credits

  • Nick Cave - vocals, piano, wurlitzer, synthesizer, vibraphone, backing vocals, lyrics by, music by, mixed by, producer
  • Warren Ellis - synthesizer, loops, wurlitzer, piano, baritone tenor guitar, violin, viola, drum treatments, drum loops, backing vocals, music by, mixed by, producer
  • Martyn Casey - bass
  • Thomas Wydler - drums
  • Jim Sclavunos - percussion, vibraphone, tubular bells, wurlitzer, backing vocals, mixed by
  • George Vjestica - acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Joe Giddey - cello
  • Hingston Studio - design
  • John Davis - mastered by
  • Jake Jackson - mixed by
  • Kevin Paul - mixed by
  • Arnaud Bequet - mixed by [assisted by]
  • Chris Blakey - mixed by [assisted by]
  • John Prestage - mixed by [assisted by]
  • Jonathan Ratovoarisoa - mixed by [assisted by]
  • Nicolas Quéré - mixed by [assisted by]
  • Alwin Küchler - photography by
  • Nick Launay - producer [additional production by]

More from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: full discography