Released September 6, 2010 Label Mute Records/ANTI- | Length 5:01 | |
Format digital download, 12" vinyl Recorded August 2008–2010 at RAK Studios, State of the Ark and Assault & Battery 2 in London, United Kingdom Genre Alternative rock, garage rock | ||
"Heathen Child" is the fourth single by alternative rock group Grinderman and first from their second studio album, Grinderman 2. Released on September 6, 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.
Contents
Background and production
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 July 27, 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
- "Heathen Child" – 5:01
- "Heathen Child" – 5:01
- "Star Charmer"
- "Super Heathen Child"
Music video
A series of trailers for the album directed by John Hillcoat have been released on Grinderman's official website and by Mute Records since June 28, 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's Video Box on August 9, 2010.