Skeleton Tree

The arrangements on Skeleton Tree leave Nick Cave's voice unusually exposed. Warren Ellis's loops and ambient textures often hover around the words instead of pushing them towards a conventional rock chorus. That unsettled relationship between voice and accompaniment gives the songs much of their tension.

The recording began in Brighton in late 2014, with further sessions in France in autumn 2015. Its history is more complicated than the idea of an album made entirely in the immediate aftermath of tragedy. The music itself leaves room for hesitation and uncertainty, rather than resolving every feeling into a dramatic conclusion.