Last April Nick Cave and Bad Seeds cohorts Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos, along with Bad Seeds/Dirty Three violinist Warren Ellis, went into a London studio with producer Nick Launay for a whirlwind, weeklong recording session. The resulting 13 songs are to be released in America by Anti- on April 10 as the self-titled debut from Grinderman. The genesis of the ad hoc outfit came during 2004 sessions in Paris for Cave’s double album “Abattoir Blues/ The Lyre of Orpheus”; Cave discovered the pleasures of writing and recording quickly with a small combo, and ultimately decided to carry the aesthetic concept over to a completely new project.
Noted Cave in a statement posted on the website of his UK label Mute, "There was only a certain amount I could write in [my home office] any more...
With that little session in Paris with Warren, Jim and Marty, suddenly it was so easy to get a song out because you had the bass and drums behind everything and you're singing a different way. Your mind works in a completely different way."
The first single from the album, “Get It On,” is available in two formats: as a limited-edition 7” (1000 numbered copies) featuring sleeve art by Cave and a vinyl etching on the B-side; and as a digital download.
Both are slated for release on January 8, but collectors, take note: according to Mute the 7” is already sold out!
Commenting on “Get It On” for the website, the band had this to say:
CAVE: "It is a lament for the messianic rock n' roll hero and begins, of course, with a statement of intent."
CASEY: "Mice, dogs, baboons, hyenas.
”
CAVE: "Yeah, well, for me all the enemies of inspiration assume animal shapes. They are all around us..
. and of course, inside us."
ELLIS: "From all the loops I originally sent you, this was the first one that really cried out to be used.
”
SCLAVUNOS: "Yeah, it grinds...
it ground...
"
There you have it, ladies and gents… nevermind the Bad Seeds, here’s Grinderman.
In related news, Cave is in talks with film director John Hillcoat, who previously teamed with the songwriter for 2005’s “The Proposition,” for a new film slated to begin filming in September. Titled “Death of a Ladies’ Man” – it’s named after the Leonard Cohen song – and starring Ray Wynstone, the film was described by producer Paul Webster, in an interview last year with “Variety,” as “an incredibly poetic meditation on life in England that mixes outrageous comedy with real pathos… all the trademark darkness of Nick's music as well as his humor.
"
Observed Cave in the same interview, "Scriptwriting allows me to explore things I wouldn't normally be able to. There's something wonderfully adolescent about ‘Death of a Ladies' Man’ that I'm not allowed to get away with anymore in rock music.
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