NEW YORK — Australian alternative rocker Nick Cave thrilled fans on Monday by announcing a new album entitled Ghosteen, which he said is set to drop next week.

Cave announced the double album on his website in a post responding to a fan wondering when to expect new music from the gothic frontman of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

"The songs on the first album are the children. The songs on the second album are their parents," said the singer-composer known for the unsparing emotional intensity of his lyrics.

"Ghosteen is a migrating spirit."

Part 1 is to include eight songs, while the second portion will feature two long songs "linked by a spoken word piece," the 62-year-old said.

He did not specify the date the album would come out.

Ghosteen is set to be the band's first album since 2016's Skeleton Tree, which delved into heavy material like the shock death of Cave's teenage son.

Cave also shared the album art depicting a utopian jungle-like landscape bathed in soft light and bordered with lush vegetation and colorful flowers.  AFP