Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Frogs Review

After the ludicrous thrills of Wild God, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds found themselves in good stead. Their first single this decade offered the usual thrills and spills of a Cave and Seeds classic. They follow up their furious, God-concerning first single with natural reserves and the winding layers of Frogs. A song which gave Cave a “big fucking smile” is now out there, drifting through the void as we await the full release of Wild God. A UK tour inches ever closer and for Cave and company it means backing themselves and Frogs. Their latest effort is a wonderful experience. That huge grin Cave received is understandable as he channels a jolt of positivity. It is hard not to lay back on this warm bed of instrumental joy. Frogs wants us to dive back into nature and the hopeful waters. 

Cave and the Bad Seeds do well to wash us away from the trouble of the world with Frogs. Joyous proclamations of crushed skulls engulf the opening and later references to Kris Kristofferson offer the ever-present desire to relax into what we know best. Into those intimate listens and the music, we trust with our deepest experiences. Cave at least pays tribute to the country legend here, towards the end of the track and out of the blue, it would seem. But further listening reveals the intent. There is no greater thrill than the marriage between a cool Sunday morning away from work and spite than the intimacy held in music we trust. Frogs will no doubt offer the same experience to those who need it in its winding and intricate melancholy. Cave keeps the flowing positivity which marked Ghosteen as such a major shift. He has not lost his fluid details as a writer; he just hopes to use them as a powerful force of positivity. 

A soft ruthlessness runs through Frogs. Cave disarms the violence of the week with an almost resolute desire to experience the peace of a Sunday. It is another round of religious influence on Cave’s work. Ultimately, Frogs is an inspiring piece. Cave and the band softly, slowly, demand we let go of our tensions and revel in the depth and joy of a Sunday. It does not have to be a Sunday. Any day can be fuelled by the passion Cave has for us to disconnect from the real world and adapt. To reposition ourselves as rested beings rather than the drained and caffeinated, hunched creatures we become when the days get longer. Tensions of the week are meant to be exhumed at the end of the week. How rare it is when this happens. 

But Cave is steadfast in seeking this rarity as a common experience. Frogs hopes to give us a chance, even if it is just for the half hour we spend repeatedly listening to the track while pouring that well-needed cup of coffee, to reflect on a week we are stuck in the middle of. Trench-bound soldiers trying their best not to feel overwhelmed in a constantly whirring, stressful experience. The days were not meant to be this way. Rest and faith play well with the structure Cave hopes to bring Frogs and as a companion piece to Wild God it works remarkably well. Peace and hope filter through a track where the instrumental fury is parked and, in its place, comes a groaning, rumbling experience more like a late-stage Scott Walker effort or a track thoroughly influenced by the work Cave created with Warren Ellis on Carnage.