Watch “Galleon Ship,” recorded live at the piano this summer and now coming to theaters and vinyl
By Evan Minsker
September 3, 2020
This summer, Nick Cave hosted a ticketed livestream of a solo piano concert in London. That special will now be released as a live album and concert film. Packaged with four unreleased performances, Idiot Prayer: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace is coming to cinemas around the world on November 5, and the live album will follow on November 20. Watch the recording of “Galleon Ship” below.
Idiot Prayer features music from across Cave’s career, including early Bad Seeds, Grinderman, and material from his latest album Ghosteen. The film was shot by cinematographer Robbie Ryan and edited by Nick Emerson; Dom Monks recorded the music. Read Nick Cave’s statement about Idiot Prayer below.
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 I 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.