Nick Cave is one of our greatest working live performers, but you might not expect his particular form of burning intensity to translate to late-night TV. That’s doubly true when you consider that Cave and his Bad Seeds are currently touring their stark, stunning, death-haunted Skeleton Tree album. And honestly, you’d be right. In the band’s performance on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show last night, the band didn’t go for burning intensity. Instead, Cave did his sort of lounge-lizard slam-poet thing, performing the Skeleton Tree track “Rings Of Saturn.” And it was still incredible. Things might get more real at a Bad Seeds show, but for a late-night performance from someone who doesn’t do them too often, you can’t ask for anything better than this. Watch it below.

Skeleton Tree is out now on Bad Seed Ltd.