One day we hope to see Nick Cave pop around a concert venue as we sing “White Elephant,” the menacing, catchy heart of his stunning new album. Carnage. The only cave that so naturally has embraced the main scene of murders and traitors now delivers an apocalyptic word society poem, apparently inspired by George Orwell’s “Shooting the Elephant” and the protests of the last year about the death of George Floyd; the result is painful, controversial, and frustrating. Over at Warren Ellis’ frozen, light-hearted performance, he sings, “I’ll go fucking you in the face,” in the closest thing to a chorus.
That is, until the emotion moves. The duo suddenly perform a psychedelic church choir over the sunniest and most beautiful piece of music Cave and Ellis have delivered since 2008 Dig, Lazarus, Dig !!! The unexpected start of the offer, the second half of an album that, so far, has felt like a nightmare series from David Lynch Highway missing. “There is a kingdom in the skies,” Cave sings. “We are all coming home. “You can practically see the light fill the room and hear the audience singing together. These edges have always been in the work of a Cave. “White Elephant” binds them together in their rawest, most terrifying forms.