"Heathen Child" is the fourth single by alternative rock group

Grinderman Grinderman was an Australian-American rock band that formed in London, England, in 2006. The band included Nick Cave (vocals, guitar, organ, piano), Warren Ellis (tenor guitar, electric mandolin, violin, viola, guitar, backing vocals), Martyn ...

and first from their second studio album, ''

Grinderman 2 ''Grinderman 2'' is the second and final studio album by alternative rock band Grinderman, a side project of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 13 September 2010 on Mute Records in the United Kingdom and ANTI- in the United States. At the ...

''. Released on 6 September 2010, the song is the first release from Grinderman in three years and is also the band's first limited edition double a-side single.

Background and production

Singer Nick Cave spoke of the song with ''Uncut'' magazine, mentioning that "Heathen Child" was "a quest to break from narrative song-writing in to something more impressionistic." On 27 July 2010 the final studio version of the song was previewed on music website Soundcloud by Mute Records.

Critical reception

The song was described on ''Sonic Masala'' as "squalid, diseased, filthy, and oh so seductive."

Track listing and formats

;Digital download #"Heathen Child" – 5:01 ;Limited edition 12" vinyl #"Heathen Child" – 5:01 #"Star Charmer" #"Super Heathen Child"

Music video

A series of trailers for the album directed by

John Hillcoat John Hillcoat (born 1960) is an Australian-Canadian film director, screenwriter, and music video director. Early life Hillcoat was born in Queensland, Australia, and was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As a child, his paintings were featur ...

have been released on Grinderman's official website and by Mute Records since 28 June 2010. Recorded near Westway in London, the music video for "Heathen Child" features a "naked lady lying in a bath of something milky." Cave explained elements of the music video noting that "the video follows the fortunes of a worringly young white girl as she sits in a bath, confronted by the panoply of fiends that occupy her subconscious." The video premiered on

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

's Video Box on August 9, 2010.

Musicians and personnel

;Grinderman * Nick Cave –

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, organ,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

– acoustic guitar,

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, electric

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

mandolin,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, production * Martyn Casey –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, acoustic guitar, backing vocals, production * Jim Sclavunos – drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

, backing vocals, production ;Guest musicians *

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

– electric guitar on "Super Heathen Child" ;Technical personnel *

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Anna Calvi, IDLES, Black Re ...

– production,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

*Kevin Paul - co-production *Tom Hough - assistant production (at State of the Ark) *David "Saxon" Greenep - assistant production (at State of the Ark) *Russell Fawkus - assistant production (at Assault & Battery 2)

Chart positions

References

2010 songs Songs written by Nick Cave Song recordings produced by Nick Launay 2010 singles {{2000s-song-stub