Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is the fourteenth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album was recorded in June and July 2007 at The State of the Ark Studios in Richmond, London and mixed by Nick Launay at British Grove Studios in Chiswick, and was released on 3 March 2008.

This article is about the album. For the album's title song, see Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (song).

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
Studio album by
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released3 March 2008
RecordedJune–July 2007
Genre
Length53:35
Label
ProducerNick Launay, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds chronology
The Abattoir Blues Tour
(2007)		 Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
(2008)		 Live at the Royal Albert Hall
(2008)

It was the last album to feature founding member Mick Harvey, who left the Bad Seeds in 2009, and organist James Johnston, who left the band before the support tour. It was also the second without founding member Blixa Bargeld. Dig features the same personnel as the Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus double album (though the involvement of both Johnston and pianist Conway Savage is dramatically reduced). It is also the first to be released since the Bad Seeds side project Grinderman released their eponymous album. In several interviews Cave stated the album would "sound like Grinderman," implying a garage rock sound. In line with this approach, the album was recorded in about five days, an uncommonly short period for a full-length album from the band.[4]

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! features artwork by British artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster. At the J Awards of 2008, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.[5]

Concept

On the band's official website Cave wrote about his inspiration for the album:

Ever since I can remember hearing the Lazarus story, when I was a kid, you know, back in church, I was disturbed and worried by it. Traumatised, actually. We are all, of course, in awe of the greatest of Christ's miracles—raising a man from the dead—but I couldn't help but wonder how Lazarus felt about it. As a child it gave me the creeps, to be honest. I've taken Lazarus and stuck him in New York City, in order to give the song, a hip, contemporary feel. I was also thinking about Harry Houdini who spent a lot of his life trying to debunk the spiritualists who were cashing in on the bereaved. He believed there was nothing going on beyond the grave. He was the second greatest escapologist, Harry was, Lazarus, of course, being the greatest. I wanted to create a kind of vehicle, a medium, for Houdini to speak to us if he so desires, you know, from beyond the grave.[6]

Singles and promotion

A series of viral video trailers for the album were produced by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard.

On 18 February the title track "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" was released as the first single—on CD, limited edition 7", and as a digital download—with "Accidents Will Happen" as the B-side. The second single, "More News From Nowhere", was released on 12 May. It draws its title from News from Nowhere, an 1890 utopian socialist novel by William Morris.

An extended promotional video for "Night of the Lotus Eaters" was also released along with a live studio video of "Midnight Man" and a promotional video for "More News From Nowhere", all directed by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. The "More News From Nowhere" video released in May 2008, features cameo appearances by journalist Will Self, singer Beth Orton, British TV actors Karl Theobald, Michael Higgs and Caroline Catz plus British artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster and socialite/ broadcaster Peaches Geldof.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic87/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The A.V. ClubB+[8]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[9]
The Guardian[10]
The Independent[11]
NME8/10[12]
Pitchfork8.4/10[13]
Q[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
Spin[16]

Critical response to Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was overwhelmingly positive, with reviewers acclaiming the album as both a return to greatness and a new side of the band. The album currently holds a score of 87 out of 100 on the review aggregate site Metacritic, which indicates "universal acclaim".[7] A review from NME described Dig, Lazarus Dig!!! as a "gothic psycho-sexual apocalypse" and stated that "just when The Bad Seeds seemed content to settle into middle-age as a cabaret gospel showband – albeit an extraordinary one – they've bared their teeth again".[12] Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork stated that "this is how rock musicians are supposed to age".[13] Alastair McKay of Uncut wrote that "the band has never sounded better, and Cave seems to have relaxed into the hysteria of his vocal style; like Elmer Gantry singing Leonard Cohen at a tent-revival."[17] In his Consumer Guide column for MSN Music, Robert Christgau cited "We Call Upon the Author" and "More News from Nowhere" as highlights and called Cave "almost Dylanesque for blessed moments",[18] later giving the album a two-star honorable mention rating.[19]

In a five-star review, The Observer's Graeme Thomson praised Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! as "a triumph from first to last".[20] David Harris of Tiny Mix Tapes said that "rock, country, blues, and post-punk rhythms meld with Cave’s lyrics on sex, death, God, and America to create what could be one of his most perfect albums yet",[2] while Matt Fink of Paste called the album "vintage Cave."[21] Jason Heller of The A.V. Club said that Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! "bears little concept or nuance, but it more than makes up for it in raw, oozing passion."[8] Hot Press critic Paul Nolan wrote that the album "is a less sonically abrasive affair than the album Cave released last year with his side-project Grinderman, but it teems with as many musical and lyrical ideas as ever."[22] Drowned in Sound noted that "while there are inevitable parallels what with one album following the last so soon", Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was nonetheless "a bolder creation that its predecessor."[23] In a mixed review, Tim Perlich of Now wrote that the band's tendency "to revert to familiar structures and grooves" meant that it was "not surprising, then, that a number of the tunes on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! sound familiar", though he acknowledged that "this probably isn't all that troubling to Bad Seeds fans, for whom more of the same is a welcome prospect."[24]

In May 2008, the album was announced as the first nomination for Australian radio station Triple J's 2008 J Awards. The title track was ranked at 35 in the Triple J 2008 Hottest 100 Countdown.[25]

Awards
  • 2008 MOJO Awards: Best Album of 2008 (Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!)
  • 2008 ARIA Award: Nick Cave Best Male Artist of 2008 (for Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!)
  • Certified Silver for UK sales.[26]
  • Certified Gold for Irish sales.[27]

Track listing

All songs written by Nick Cave unless otherwise stated

  1. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!" – 4:11
  2. "Today's Lesson" – 4:41
  3. "Moonland" – 3:53 (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos)
  4. "Night of the Lotus Eaters" – 4:53 (Cave, Ellis)
  5. "Albert Goes West" – 3:32 (Cave, Ellis)
  6. "We Call Upon the Author" – 5:11 (Cave, Ellis)
  7. "Hold On to Yourself" – 5:50 (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos)
  8. "Lie Down Here (& Be My Girl)" – 4:57
  9. "Jesus of the Moon" – 3:22
  10. "Midnight Man" – 5:06
  11. "More News from Nowhere" – 7:58 (Cave, Ellis, Casey, Sclavunos)

Singles

Personnel
  • Nick Cave – Vocals (1–11), Organ (1,2,6,7), Piano (3,8,9), Tambourine (3,5,11), Sleigh Bells (3,11), Toms (5), Harmonica (5), Electric Guitar (9), Vibra-Slap (11)
  • Martyn P. Casey – Bass (1–3,6–11)
  • Thomas Wydler – Brushed Snare (1), Shaker (2,10), Tambourine (2,5,10), Drums (4,8,9), Hand Drums (7)
  • Warren Ellis – Viola (1,6,9,11), Loops (1,4,6,7,10,11), Fender Mandocaster (2–4,7–10), Tenor Guitar (3,5,8,10), Maracas (3) 12 String Lute (5), Drum Machine (6), Piano (8), Flute (9), Mandolin (9)
  • Mick Harvey – Electric Guitar (1,4–6,10,11), Acoustic Guitar (2,5,7–9), Bass (4,5), Organ (10)
  • Jim Sclavunos – Drums (1–3,5–7,10,11), Bongos (1,5), Cowbell (1), Cuica (3), Congas (3,4), Finger Cymbals (4), Shaker (5), Maracas (7), Tambourine (8,9), Sleigh Bells (9)
  • James Johnston – Organ (2,5,9), Electric Guitar (5)
  • All backing vocals and handclaps by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds; Conway Savage is listed as a band member but does not play his usual keyboards on the album

Chart positions

References
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  2. Harris, David. "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  3. Jurek, Thom. "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! – Nick Cave / Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  4. "Interview With Nick Launay" Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, HitQuarters, 16 November 2009.
  5. "2008 J Awards". ABC. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  6. "Nick Cave: I was traumatised by bible". NME. 3 December 2007.
  7. "Reviews for Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  8. Heller, Jason (7 April 2008). "Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  9. Nashawaty, Chris (4 April 2008). "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
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