Nick Cave has spent the better part of the past decade reasserting himself in his role as true rennaisance man. After the subdued and stately The Boatman’s Call (1997) and No More Shall We Part (2001), many thought Nick Cave was settling into family life and maturity with grace. Instead, he rallied together his Bad Seeds and launched a salvo of albums culminating in 2008’s joyously raucous Dig, Lazarus, Dig. If that wasn’t enough he started Grinderman, a side band of vitrolic rock of near Birthday Party intensity. He wrote the screenplay and (with Warren Ellis) provided the soundtrack for John Hillcoat’s acclaimed film The Proposition. Why not a novel as well? (more…)