As the hailstorm of gospel rock hellfire that is “Get Ready For Love” subsided like a seraphim stealing off with your soul, Nick Cave gazed out across a packed Preston Park, held a hand to the breast of his pallbearer’s suit and caught his breath a little. “This is – ”. He paused. “Deeply overwhelming”. And then he set about making his beloved former hometown of Brighton feel exactly the same way.
What, then, if the Satan myth could be reversed? If the devil can ascend to an angel? It’s certainly the direction of travel for Cave. Having spent the first grainy chunk of his career descending into the Stygian depths of hell and humanity, he’s spent several decades now seeking a kind of redemptive transcendence.
