NICK CAVE - WITH MY VOICE I AM CALLING YOU

SINGER Nick Cave, 59, has recently spoken movingly about the loss of his 15-year-old son, Arthur, who fell to his death in 2015 while high on the drug LSD.

It was a devastating blow for the lead singer and founder of the Bad Seeds – best known in the UK, perhaps, for Where The Wild Roses Grow – his 1996 duet with Kylie Minogue.

And tragically drug addiction has been no stranger to Cave. A gifted songwriter whose lyrics have at times tellingly revealed his personal struggle with faith, and his addictions, Cave now openly admits: "I was a junkie. I would wake up and need to score, and the first thing I would do is go to church."

Drug-free for a while now, he frankly admits that he would "sit through the entire service, listening to the priest and then immediately hit up local dealers to score drugs.

"I really felt on some level that I had a kind of workable balance in my life," he says. "I mean, it was mad." During his Australian childhood Cave would attend his local Anglican church, sometimes twice a week.

A ‘seed’ was being planted – memories and impressions that would influence his prodigious creative output for many years to come. His preoccupation with Old Testament (the earlier half of the Bible) ideas of good versus evil culminated in what has been called his signature song, The Mercy Seat (1988).

Even if returning to church as an adult did not immediately quell his addictions, Cave believes that "any true love song is a song for God. Song is a form of prayer."

Cave has ascribed the mellowing of his music to a shift in focus from the Old to the New Testament of the Bible. He says: "I think as an artist it's a necessary part of what I do, that there is some divine element going on within my songs."

Understandably, the death of his son, Arthur, has irrevocably changed him: "You change from a known person to an unknown person. So that when you look yourself in the mirror, do you recognise the person that you were?"

Perhaps only those who have had the misfortune to suffer the loss of a child can truly identify with this acute wound. The love of a father for his son is one of the cornerstones of the Christian faith. We know to some degree the enormity of the Father's sacrifice when his Son, Jesus, died on the cross.

"With my voice I am calling you," sings Cave in Jesus Alone, the opening track on the band’s acclaimed 2016 album Skeleton Tree. Although mostly written before Arthur’s death, he died during the recording and the album seems poignantly filled with grief.

In the lyrics, Cave never seems to get an answer to his cry, but if we have a relationship with Jesus, we are never truly alone. He is at our side through good times and bad. No matter the load, he will help us shoulder the pain. The good news is that when we call out to him, he hears us, hurts with us and we are never alone again.


Please quote Christian Free Press on reprint.

'Wholesome' men's mag with a Christian slant bucks the trend of circulation decline

Report for Press Gazette by Emma McGarthy

The circulation of men's magazines such as Loaded, Nuts and Zoo have been in freefall in recent years - but a title with more "wholesome" content claims to be bucking the trend.

Sorted, a men's title with a Christian slant, comes out six times a year and has doubled its circulation over the last year from 20,000 to 40,000.

Launched in 2007, it has a newsstand sale of 2,000 and 3,300 subscribers with the remainder circulated via bulk distribution deals to outlets including bars, gyms and health clubs. Business backers pay for the title to be distributed for free into UK prisons and to the armed forces.

The title covers usual men's mag fare of science, football and movies - but also deals with "faith". Publisher and editor Steve Legg says he was inspired to launch Sorted after talking to a dad: “He was telling me how his 11-year-old son's mates were bringing in lads mags and he was complaining at the lack of something more positive and wholesome in the marketplace.”

Director of publishing Duncan Williams said Sorted is a more mature, upbeat and wholesome magazine than other men's titles, with more in-depth content.

He says: “It’s something for men to identify with in a positive way...A lot people buying it are women as presents [for men] as it’s not derogative.”

Each publication features an in-depth interview with a male celebrity. He said that big names who have spoken to the title include Will Smith, Steve Carrell, Denzil Washington, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Caine. Williams says: “We try to ask in-depth questions that aren’t the usual PR fare… which produce interesting interviews. Asking that key question about faith is rewarding.”

The magazine is next published on 18 February priced £4.

It has a full-time staff of three, with six freelances, and revenue comes from a mix of subscribers and advertisers such as Apple and David Beckham’s deodorant brand. Regular editorial contributors include TV adventurer Bear Grylls.

Williams said: “Advertisers are very keen to be associated with a more wholesome and mature publication.”

There are plans to expand the title into New Zealand and Australia.