Fundamentally they are all love songs, of both a personal and spiritual nature. As befits an album of devotional songs they are as intimate as private prayer. Stories of faith, desire and reverence are delivered with humility, but , naturally, Cave also casts an unstinting eye at human fallibility. It appears that the only thing that inspires Cave as much as building a relationship is destroying it.

The Boatman's Call is his most personal record to date. Many of the songs are embarrassingly indiscreet and personal, while others are humble and self-assured with the serenity of a hymn.

The Boatman's Call is poignant and intensely intimate album, spare in instrumentation and stark in its honesty. The subjects range from praise to pain and back again. Love, is in the end, our only redemption.