Nick Cave finally accepting this number is tending to grab attention (9)

I believe the answer is:

arrestive

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'grab attention' is the definition.
The definition suggests an adjective which matches the answer.

'nick cave finally accepting this number is tending' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'number' could be 'iv' (IV is an example) and 'iv' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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