In Nick Cave's "Darker With The Day", there's a modulation at the end of the chorus which sounds very good (to me), but I don't understand why it works.
The verse is more or less in G major:
GM GMb7 CM Cm
The chorus is in Bb major:
BbM FM Gm FM EbM DM
...and then back to GM starting the next verse. The EbM to DM part is the part I'm wondering about. Why does that make so much sense to my ear? It sort of echoes the "liturgical" sound of the V -> v -> I thing from the verse; is that why?
Outside of this context, it doesn't usually sound all that great to follow a major chord with another major chord one half step down.