There was a time not so long ago when Nick Cave revelled in the role of the dark prince of rock. Now however, buffeted by the vagaries and tragedies of life, he's grown spooky in a more understated way. As the onetime new wave rebel has aged and settled into a more sedate lifestyle, the tone and tenor of his songs has turned ever more brooding and pensive; austerity and explorations of the stark and spare have become his latest compulsions. Here on an intriguing odds 'n' sods compilation of lesser known or unreleased tracks from his recent work with his band The Bad Seeds, the quieter, more introspective Cave is showcased, expanding the portrait of the moving target he and his music will always be. "King Sized Nick Cave Blues," an unreleased track from 2014, is almost gospel. The next track "Opium Eyes," set to a rumbling beat with random demonic vibraphone notes, makes for a warlock chant. The sad, solo piano and voice-only track, "Euthanasia" segues into the full band "Life Per Se," another somber exploration with viola and loudly hummed background vocals. Both were recorded for the 2014 Skeleton Tree sessions that occurred just after the accidental death of Cave's son Arthur, an event that's had the audible effect of giving an even sadder hue to much of what Cave has written since. Musically, he has progressively settled into more lyrics slowly spoken or sung over lilting electronic backgrounds, a trend heard in "Big Dream (w/ Sky)" an unreleased track from the 2018/2019 sessions that became the album, Ghosteen. "First Bright Horses," an early version of the eventual Ghosteen track, "Bright Horses," verges on a cracked, almost Waitsian beauty. A rare duet, "Free to Walk," with Debbie Harry, from the 2009 Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project is a refreshing interlude. While Cave's music has grown hushed, his familiar angst joined to his astute ear for poetics continues to trigger lyrics that are cryptic and coolly angular. In "Accidents Will Happen" he sings, "Well, let me tell you a little more about Mabel/ She is shaped like an inverted ducks pond chair/ I roll out my tongue when she walks past/ Fix her with my famous jelly-eyed stare" and on"Steve McQueen," from the Skeleton Tree sessions, his menacing persona returns, albeit at a lower volume, as he recites: "I'm the atomizer/ I'm the vaporizer/I turn everything to crud/ I like it here in your flesh and blood." Bad Seeds partner Warren Ellis is a large part of what's heard here whether it's his violin loops that sway from side to side in "Animal X" and "Lightning Bolts" or his piano leading the way on a slow, sweeping, large forces 2019 performance of "Push The Sky Away," the title track to the Seeds' 2013 album, which was recorded as part of a concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Like the sessions they are drawn from, the sound and mixes heard on B-Sides and Rarities are beautifully spacious and detailed with Cave's voice seemingly in the room next to you. Especially sweet for longtime fans, this collection is more proof that Cave remains one of the current era's musical visionaries. © Robert Baird/Qobuz