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Sep 03, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Nick Cave

Nick Cave has announced a new solo live concert film and album, Idiot Prayer - Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace. It was filmed in June and as its title suggests it features Cave at a piano, alone in the empty iconic London venue. The concert was presented as a livestream in July, but the film is being billed as an extended version. The film comes out in cinemas on November 5 and the album will be released on vinyl, CD, and streaming on November 20.

The concert features songs from across Cave’s catalogue, including solo work, music from his album’s with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and songs from his Grinderman side-project. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan (The Favourite, Marriage Story) filmed the performance in Alexandra Palace’s West Hall. Nick Emerson (Emma, Greta) edited the film, and the music was recorded by Dom Monks. Outside of the U.S., tickets go on sale for the film on September 10 (the U.S. on-sale date is TBA).

Cave had this to say about it all in a press release: “The film Idiot Prayer evolved from my ‘Conversations With…’ events. I loved playing deconstructed versions of my songs at these shows, distilling them to their essential forms. I felt I was rediscovering the songs all over again, and started to think about going into a studio and recording these reimagined versions at some stage—whenever I could find the time.

“Then the pandemic came—the world went into lockdown, and fell into an eerie, self reflective silence. It was within this silence that began to think about the idea of not only recording the songs, but also filming them.

“We worked with the team at Alexandra Palace—a venue I have played and love—on securing a date to film just as soon as they were allowed to re-open the building to us.

“On 19th June 2020, surrounded by Covid officers with tape measures and thermometers, masked-up gaffers and camera operators, nervous looking technicians and buckets of hand gel, we created something very strange and very beautiful that spoke into this uncertain time, but was in no way bowed by it.

“This is the album taken from that film. It is a prayer into the void—alone at Alexandra Palace—a souvenir from a strange and precarious moment in history. I hope you enjoy it.”

Last fall Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds released a powerful new album, Ghosteen. Our critic Michael James Hall gave Ghosteen a rare 9/10 and you can read his review here. The album was #3 on our Top 100 Albums of 2019 list.

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