Darker with the Dawn - by Adam Steiner (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book dives into the world of Nick Cave-a complex and often mysterious icon-and looks at his influences, inspirations, and deeper meanings in his most beloved songs throughout his career. Adam Steiner reflects on Cave's journey from childhood, struggles with drug addiction...

Book Synopsis

This book dives into the world of Nick Cave--a complex and often mysterious icon--and looks at his influences, inspirations, and deeper meanings in his most beloved songs throughout his career.Adam Steiner reflects on Cave's journey from childhood, struggles with drug addiction, reckoning with Christianity, and many other aspects of the artist.

Review Quotes

"For over forty years, Nick Cave's complex and richly allusive music has invited and rewarded close consideration. Scholarly, thorough, and insightful, Darker with the Dawn delivers the depth of analysis that Cave's body of work deserves."

"This is a great primer on all things Nick Cave--a solid, deep dive into where Nick Cave started from and how he made it to the present day. This is a must read for any Nick Cave fan, whether a newcomer or veteran."

Adam Steiner's Darker with the Dawn is a comprehensive analysis of the artistic evolution of Nick Cave, exploring how his personal experiences have shaped his music. From his early work's violent and religious imagery to intimate and emotional imagery, Cave's complex songwriting covers themes and genres, reflecting diverse musical tastes and creative impulses. Steiner examines the sources and meanings of Cave's lyrics, revealing a multifaceted artist who constantly challenges himself and his audience with his twist of love and death.

Described as a primer on all things Nick Cave, Darker Than The Dawn is more than that. It is a deep dive into the life, loves and losses that make up one of our generation's greatest creative artists. It is obviously also a labour of love for Steiner, only a genuine and long-time fan would even think of attempting something as labour-intensive as this and it is easy to imagine the author getting completely caught up in Cave's work and mindset as he went to such lengths to analyse and research such a lengthy and diverse back catalogue and its interconnecting strands. Darker Than The Dawn is a great read for old fans and new, for those who are looking for a good introduction to Cave's work and for those who have lived with it and would appreciate an in-depth analysis.

In Darker with the Dawn, Adam Steiner rappels deep into Cave's songs of love and death.... Steiner is excellent on Cave's rock roots and biblical inspirations from language to imagery to themes.

Nick Cave has created a body of work across music, prose, and screen unmatched in its impact, depth, and erudition by few artists. At last, we have a critical analysis that does this achievement justice. Adam Steiner has set the benchmark for many years to come.

Steiner connects all the dots in Darker with the Dawn, deeply examining what inspired Cave and how his work intersects in that Venn diagram of God, sex and violence.... Steiner is also a strong writer, and his deep reading into Cave's work is comprehensive and goes beyond the obvious.

About the Author

Adam Steiner is the author of Into The Never: Nine Inch Nails and the Creation of The Downward Spiral and Silhouettes And Shadows: The Secret History of David Bowie's Scary Monsters. He writes about music, street-art culture, architecture, poetry, and transgressive fiction and lives in London, England. Visit adamsteiner.uk/.