Nick Cave and Warren Ellis have shared ‘Song For Amy’, a song they wrote for the new Amy Winehouse biopic ‘Song For Amy’ – listen below.
The delicate, orchestrated track features over the opening credits of the film, which is out in UK cinemas now. Elegant strings underscore Cave’s deeply felt vocals as he sings, “You say that it’s time for us to call it a day / But I will love you anyway”.
Listen to ‘Song For Amy’ below:
Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Back to Black tells the Winehouse story in a feature film for the first time. It follows Amy from her teenage years, growing up in north London, through her meteoric rise to Grammy-winning sensation in the 2000s. Alongside Marisa Abela (Industry) in the lead role are BAFTA-nominated actor Jack O’Connell, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan and Juliet Cowan. Screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh (Nowhere Boy, Ian Curtis biopic Control) has written the screenplay.
It was confirmed in February that Cave and Ellis would be involved with the film, with Taylor-Johnson describing them as “the only musicians” that were in her mind for the role.
“Over the years, I’ve listened to everything they’ve composed and longed to realize the dream of working together,” she said. “Their sensibility as well as understanding of this story has led to a profoundly deep and moving film score.”
The full soundtrack, ‘Back To Black: Songs From the Original Motion Picture’, will be released on May 17 via UMR/Island Records, and will feature Winehouse’s original recordings, as well as tracks from some of her inspirations, including The Shangri-Las, Billie Holiday, Minnie Riperton, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan.
NME has also released a special print edition celebrating the life and legacy of the singer, which is available for free now and has been distributed across the UK. See the full list of outlets here.
In a four-star review of the film, NME wrote: “Obviously, it was going to be tough for Back To Black to surpass Winehouse’s 2006 album of the same name – what could? – but Taylor-Johnson’s film is more than deserving of your time. It offers a welcome reminder of Winehouse’s plucky spirit – something that often gets lost when her life is reduced to a hackneyed tale of talent and tragedy.”
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, meanwhile, are due to release their new album ‘Wild God’ on August 30 (pre-order/pre-save here), and they have already shared its title track.
Cave recently told fans that the album is “full of secrets”. He has also explained that the collection isn’t “set through a lens of loss” unlike its predecessors ‘Skeleton Tree’ (2016) and ‘Ghosteen’ (2019), which dealt with the grief Cave experienced following the death of his 15-year-old son, Arthur, in 2015.
The band are also set to embark on a European, UK and Ireland tour later this year in support of the album. When announcing the dates, Cave said: “The record just feels like it was made for the stage.” Find any remaining tickets (UK/Ireland) here.
On top of this, Cave will also head out on a solo European tour in June, where he will be “performing songs from his extensive catalogue”. Cave will be accompanied on stage by Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood. Tickets for those shows are available here.
