Skeleton Tree  by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Nick Cave's sixteenth studio album, Skeleton Tree, released in 2016, was marked by the tragic death of Cave's fifteen-year-old son, Arthur, who died after falling from a great height. This completely changed things as Nick Cave modified many of the lyrics of the songs he had prepared, wanting to express his grief over the personal tragedy he experienced due to the loss of his child.

The recordings for Skeleton Tree lasted eighteen months and took place in England and France. In this album, Nick Cave tries to dress his lyrics with avant-garde and ambient music. A characteristic of this change in musical style is that there was no musician involved in the recordings who played electric guitar. The music serves as a carpet on which Nick Cave's lyrics "walk" and are highlighted. The album's production was done by Cave himself and his longtime collaborator Warren Ellis. The minimalist and dark album cover was an idea of designer Tom Hingston, who this way introduced the listener to the atmosphere that permeates Skeleton Tree.

The album was received with rave reviews from music critics. The album reached high positions in many countries. The most impressive was No. 27 on Billboard, which is the highest position that a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album has reached in their entire career (!)