Dear Philip, Dave, Geoffrey, Astrid, Ally and Leo,

I am sitting here looking at this year’s calendar. My assistant, Rachel, has helpfully laid it out in various child-friendly, primary-coloured blocks. A red block means touring, a blue block means other extracurricular creative stuff, and a yellow block means time off. The year is largely big, red blocks, with some sudden moments of blue, and a little lonely threadbare patch of yellow. Of the three red blocks, one is the imminent American Carnage tour with Warren, starting in Asheville and ending in Montreal. This block of red fills me with a kind of unabated joy because the show is just so beautiful. The second red block is a full-on Bad Seeds summer festival tour across the UK, Europe and elsewhere. This fills me with a combination of extreme excitement and acute terror because, well, it’s long and punishing. Finally, I can see, glowing lovely, glowing redly, a Nick and Warren Australian Carnage tour that has been recently added. This has not yet been announced — and I will no doubt be reprimanded for doing so here on The Red Hand Files — but I can see it there, that bright, red block, beginning mid-November and ending mid-December. This new addition makes me very happy. In fact, quite literally, it brings tears of joy, Astrid! Home, Ally, home!

But, beginning today, palely pulsing, is a two week yellow block. This means a break, Leo. This fills me with a certain trepidation because I’m going off-line for the duration, as of now. Susie claims to be doing the same. We shall see.

See you all in a couple of weeks.

Love, Nick