Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.9/10
Metacritic	95/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Tribune
The Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
The Independent
NME	5/5
The Observer
Pitchfork	9.0/10
Q
Rolling Stone

Skeleton Tree is the sixteenth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 9 September 2016 on Bad Seed Ltd. A follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed album Push the Sky Away (2013), Skeleton Tree was recorded over 18 months at Retreat Recording Studios in Brighton, La Frette Studios in La Frette-sur-Seine, and Air Studios in London. It was produced by Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and Nick Launay. During the sessions Cave's 15-year-old son Arthur died from an accidental cliff fall. Most of the album had been written at the time of Cave's son's death, but several lyrics were amended by Cave during subsequent recording sessions and feature themes of death, loss and personal grief.

Skeleton Tree's minimal production and "less polished" sound incorporates elements of alternative rock, electronica and ambient music and features extensive use of synthesizers, drum machines and loops that were previously explored on Push the Sky Away. Several songs on the album utilise avant-garde techniques, including the use of dissonant musical elements and non-standard song structures. Cave's allegorical and often-improvised lyrics have also been noted to be less narrative and character-based than on previous Bad Seeds' albums.

One More Time with Feeling, a documentary film about the aftermath of Cave's son's death and the recording process of Skeleton Tree, accompanied the album's release. Directed by Andrew Dominik, the film received a limited release and was conceived by Cave to explain the context and themes of Skeleton Tree without conducting interviews with the media. Both the film and the album received widespread critical acclaim.

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