MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
“It Felt Like I Was Released In Some Way”
Faith, Hope And Carnage, Nick Cave’s collection of lockdown interviews with Seán O’Hagan, filled eyes with tears and hearts with hope. But it wasn’t just about grief and loss and God and healing. As Cave tells Danny Eccleston, “Everything circles back to music.”
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“I
T’S NOT YOUR regular musician’s book.” Seán O’Hagan, co-author
of
Faith, Hope And
Carnage, may have bagged another of 2022’s big gongs – Understatement Of The Year. In fact it’s hard to remember – may-be not since Keith Richards’s Life in 2010 – a music book having so much impact beyond the usual circles of fans and aficionados. It’s a book about destruction – the “shattering”, as he calls it, of Cave’s life following the tragic death of his son Arthur in 2015 – but also creation: the drive that keeps Cave writing and changing how he makes music; the inspirations and collaborations that have shaped his visions; the building of a liveable life after catastrophe. Cave’s search for solace – already reflected in
Ghosteen,
MOJO’s Album Of The Year in 2019, and the wisdom, and humour, he imparts on his Red Hand Files website – has already proved a solace, in turn, to many.
“It was really emotional at times, at the signings, to witness the connection people feel they have with Nick,” says O’Hagan. “We’re in the middle of a Waterstones with 300 people, and a guy’s telling you a story about losing his mum and dad from Covid. It’s incredibly intimate moments like that. It brings home what people have been through.”
Throughout the book, Cave’s thoughts and feelings about religion – always a theme in his songs – reverberate. He describes himself as finding comfort in the idea of God, or a spiritual dimension, rather than ‘believing’ as such. During the editing process, O’Hagan admits there were moments when he wondered if the route they were taking was almost too esoteric. “You know, we were talking about The Imaginary Realm, and quoting Marilynne Robinson [the US novelist and essayist is a favourite of former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams], but then I thought, At least it’s different!”
path through his recent experiences and a way In the process, Cave found himself forging a to express himself about them. Maybe that’s why he’s agreed to the following, his first MOJO interview since 2017…
Hi, Nick. It’s MOJO here.
Oh my God. I haven’t spoken to you guys, in… how long?
Too long.
I’ve missed you.
We missed you too. But we’re pleased to say that Faith, Hope And Carnage is MOJO’s Music Book Of The Year.
I’m really happy about that. And I’m also really happy that it’s seen as a music book. Because mostly, to me, it’s a book about music, seen, I guess, through the prism of loss and religion, or spirituality if you prefer, and various different things. But everything circles back to music
.One of the things it offers is a lot of insight into your recent albums. There’s a chapter where you talk about Skeleton Tree as a prophetic record…