Ever since it emerged from the rubble of the mid-'80s Australian band The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds has exemplified the notion of getting better with age. The band's 14th studio album, the biblically inspired Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, doesn't slow that momentum any: The brash "Lie Down Here (And Be My Girl)" nicely demonstrates the advantage that seasoned veterans often have over their less experienced emulators.
Thrust into the spotlight for his plainspoken vocal style, Cave emerged from The Birthday Party as an unlikely star, helping to lead a rock revolution in which strong narratives overshadow guitar heroics. The theatrical "Lie Down Here" highlights Cave's brooding charm, as he growls his way to the heart of a devilish libretto: "One day I'll buy a factory, and assemble you on a production line / I'd buy a million of you, baby, and every single one of them will be mine." Embellished with swirling violins and scratchy guitars to underline its catchy keyboard progressions, "Lie Down Here" only enhances Cave's reputation as a frontman who challenges and entertains, simultaneously and powerfully.
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