Nick Cave and Warren Ellis film live movie for ‘Carnage’ and ‘Ghosteen’

"The world still turns, ever perilous, but containing its many joys. Music remains a balm. Friendships endure. This letter is fractured. I am so excited to perform"

Nick Cave has announced that he and Warren Ellis have recently filmed a concert movie featuring songs from recent albums ‘Carnage‘ and ‘Ghosteen’.

Cave and longterm collaborator and Bad Seeds bandmate Ellis surprised fans with the release of their first studio album as a duo when ‘Carnage’ arrived to critical acclaim last month.

Now, writing on his fan Q&A site RedHandFiles, Cave has revealed that he and Ellis have recorded a live film featuring songs from the record alongside 2019 Bad Seeds album ‘Ghosteen‘ – directed by Andrew Dominik, who made the documentary One More Time With Feeling about the making of 2016 record ‘Skeleton Tree‘ in the wake of the tragic death of Cave’s son Arthur.

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“Now, our friend, Andrew Dominik, the movie director, has come to London to film Warren and me attempting to play ‘Carnage’ (and ‘Ghosteen’) live,” wrote Cave. “Five years have passed since Andrew made One More Time with Feeling. Much has changed. But some things haven’t.

“The world still turns, ever perilous, but containing its many joys. Music remains a balm. Friendships endure. This letter is fractured. I am so excited to perform.”

More details of the film are expected in the coming weeks. This follows Cave’s recent live movie and album ‘Idiot Prayer‘, filmed solo at London’s Alexandra Palace last year.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis. Credit: Joel Ryan
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis. Credit: Joel Ryan

The RedHandFiles post also saw Cave open up about the making of ‘Carnage’, and how it brought him and Ellis closer together.

“The main reason Warren and I went into the studio was not to make a record. I think, more than anything, we just wanted to spend some time together,” wrote Cave. “It had been a long time since we had seen each other and we were eager to continue the musical conversation we’d been having all these years. So, we met at the studio, greeted each other, and began.”

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He continued: “To be honest, I don’t really remember what we did in those first couple of days – we just played and played in a kind of fogged fury, each paying witness to the stir-crazy other, and allowing our music to do its thing, advancing us toward our better selves. At least, it seemed that way. Music can do that. Make you better.”

In a five-star review of ‘Carnage‘, NME concluded that the pair had “certainly captured all the heightened rushes of panic and mania that come with lockdown and recent world events, and those merciful moments of peace, serenity and hope for what’s to come”, adding, “Cave and Ellis have taken a bold leap into the COVID era’s dark night of the soul, and found a truth that we all share.”

Meanwhile, as well as sharing the songs he’d like to be played at his funeral with fans, Cave was also recently announced as part of the cast of an immersive online theatre production of a new reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Manchester International Festival.

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