Nick Cave has indicated that he’s about to start work on his next album, following today’s announcement that his 2021 tour is cancelled.

Writing on The Red Hand Files, where Cave answers questions from the public, the musician responded to one fan called Chloe who simply said “What the fuuuuuuuuuck????? Cancelled tour noooooo.”

Responding to Chloe and “all who have written to me today,” Cave said the initial postponement of his 2020 tour during the outbreak of the coronavirus gave him an “opportunity to take stock.”

“I came to the conclusion that what I most wanted to do in life was to play live,” Cave said. I truly miss it. Cancelling the tour is a great disappointment to me, and to the rest of the band.”

“We tried to make it work but, in the end, with so many things about 2021 remaining unpredictable, including no certainty on whether we would be able to deliver the large scale arena show that we wanted to.”

Explaining that the cancellation is “at least for now,” Cave said: “I try to keep The Red Hand Files as measured as possible, as a matter of principle, but whichever way you look at it, this sucks.”

He signed off, however, “Time to make a new record,” indicating that the follow-up to 2019’s acclaimed ‘Ghosteen’ is on its way.

It was announced earlier today (December 7), that Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ 2021 dates were no longer taking place, and that they were seeking alternative arrangements for 2022.

Earlier this year, Nick Cave hosted ‘Idiot Prayer’, a livestreamed gig from London’s Alexandra Palace.

Reviewing the show, NME wrote: “Without crowds, chatter and the mess of thousands of human bodies all bumping up against each other, it’s possible to focus purely on Cave’s devastating lyricism: religion, death and romance all getting their chance to shine in the golden and purple lights that softly illuminate the room.”