He’s 59 next Thursday and Australian expatriate Nick Cave, who lives in Sussex, gets an early birthday present as Skeleton Tree, his 16th album fronting The Bad Seeds, debuts atop the charts in Flanders, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway.

In a week when there were also new releases from Bastille, The Beatles and Meat Loaf, it is Cave & The Bad Seeds who dominate, with Skeleton Tree also debuting at No.2 in Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, No.3 ...