By Matthew Sotlar / The Jambar
After 16 years, English gothic rock band The Cure has returned to the studio to record “Songs of a Lost World,” released Nov. 1, 2024.
The Cure, fronted by guitarist and vocalist Robert Smith, was formed in 1976 in Crawley, England. As pioneers of the gothic rock genre, the band has released 14 studio albums, including “Songs of a Lost World.”
While The Cure has maintained a fairly constant touring schedule, its last studio album was “4:13 Dream,” released in 2008. With the arrival of the eight-track LP “Songs of a Lost World,” The Cure returns to its most unique and experimental sound yet.
The album begins with “Alone,” a spacy track that relies heavily on Smith’s Cocteau Twins-influenced guitar work and Roger O’Donnell’s masterful keyboard playing. The somber, dreamy ballad that follows, “And Nothing is Forever,” hearkens back to the Cure’s late-‘80s “Disintegration” era works.
“A Fragile Thing” plays on The Cure’s traditional, dark and gothic sound, whilst “Warsong” has strong, aggressive guitar work that resembles My Bloody Valentine and Nine Inch Nails, knocking the album out of the park.
The fifth track, “Drone:Nodrone” is the quintessential Cure track. With fantastic guitar and drum work, a funky wah-wah pedal guitar solo and Smith’s unique, pleading vocals, the song stands out from other tracks on the album.
The dark and spacy “I Can Never Say Goodbye” follows. With a progressive rock-influenced intro, the track’s deeply personal lyrics reflect the death of Smith’s brother, Richard Smith. This is followed by the equally dark, though slightly upbeat, “All I Ever Am.”
The album concludes with the 10-minute, symphonic epic “Endsong.” With O’Donnell’s King Crimson style Mellotron work and drummer Jason Cooper’s steady playing, the track relies on a powerful, six-minute instrumental before Smith reminisces on the old days with a bleak future. “It’s all gone,” he says, ending the album with one word, “Nothing.”
In an NME interview, Smith explained he wanted to record an album that exhibited his age and musical career.
“I turn 65 this year,” Smith stated. “I want to be aware of that and reflect it in the songs. I want to reflect that I am where I am, and the things that matter to me now aren’t the things that mattered to me 20 years ago.”
The album, which now has over 50,000 sales and is certified silver in the U.K., has peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. It’s the band’s second-best album placement since 1992’s “Wish,” which peaked at No. 2.
Having won two Brit Awards from eight nominations, The Cure is nominated for three Brit Awards this year, including Best British Album of the Year for “Songs of a Lost World” and Best British Group.
For fans of The Cure, this is easily the band’s best effort in the past twenty years. “4:13 Dream” does not hold a candle to the spacy, progressive goth-rock album, “Songs of a Lost World.”
While it is not “Disintegration” or “Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me,” “Songs of a Lost World” is a standout album in The Cure’s lengthy catalog.