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.

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."Interview With Nick Launay"
, ''HitQuarters'', 16 November 2009.

''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.

Concept

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

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

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". 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". Stephen M. Deusner of ''Pitchfork'' stated that "this is how rock musicians are supposed to age". 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." 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", later giving the album a two-star honorable mention rating.

In a five-star review, ''The Observer''s Graeme Thomson praised ''Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'' as "a triumph from first to last". 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", while Matt Fink of ''Paste'' called the album "vintage Cave." 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." ''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." ''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." 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."

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.

Awards

* 2008 MOJO Awards: ''Best Album of 2008'' (''Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!'')
* 2008 ARIA Award