Nick Cave and Warren Ellis Announce ‘Australian Carnage’ Live Album

August 23, 2023

Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have announced a new live album titled Australian Carnage – Live At The Sydney Opera House. The album was recorded across their three shows at the venue in December last year, the end of the duo’s lengthy tour around the country in support of their album Carnage.

The full 18-track album will be released digitally this Friday, 25th August, with a vinyl release coming on Friday, 1st December. Cave and Ellis have also dropped a cut from the live record, ‘Balcony Man’, which you can listen to below.

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: ‘Balcony Man’ (Live at the Sydney Opera House)

“Touring Australia with Warren after so much time away was one of the highlights of recent years,” Cave wrote in a statement. “Every show was moving and unforgettable, from the intimacy of playing in theatres and arts centres, to the vast and uplifting nights at Hanging Rock, through to our final three nights at the inimitable Sydney Opera House.

“We are excited to share these recordings, made at the Sydney Opera House, and hope they capture even a tenth of the collective elation we felt at those shows. We’ll never forget them.”

The live band included Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood and Bad Seeds member Larry Mullins, along with backing vocalists Wendi Rose, Janet Ramus and T Jae Cole.

Cave and Ellis are longtime friends and collaborators, having worked together on numerous TV and film scores and in bands such as Grinderman and The Bad Seeds. Their 2022 tour marked the first time they had ever hit the road together as a duo.