Songs of a Lost World, November 1 2024
September 28, 2024 11:13 AM Subscribe
Sixteen years after their last album, five years after Robert Smith said "I feel intent on it being a 2019 release and would be extremely bitter if it isn’t," and three years after long-time bassist Simon Gallup "appeared" to have quit the band because he "got fed up of betrayal," The Cure is releasing Songs of a Lost World.
And they seem to be having fun doing it.
They sent "cryptic postcards" to fans that didn't quite announce the record. They put up a poster in the club where they played their first gig, followed by billboards and projections in cities around the world. They created an early 2000s-feeling promotional website where you can listen to short clips of two songs - if you can get in. They premiered the first song on the album on BBC Radio 6, and then launched a pre-order site, where you can order, among other things, a cassette of the new album.
But the fun might end there. Robert Smith described it in 2022 as "relentless doom and gloom. It’s the doomiest thing that we’ve ever done."
They sent "cryptic postcards" to fans that didn't quite announce the record. They put up a poster in the club where they played their first gig, followed by billboards and projections in cities around the world. They created an early 2000s-feeling promotional website where you can listen to short clips of two songs - if you can get in. They premiered the first song on the album on BBC Radio 6, and then launched a pre-order site, where you can order, among other things, a cassette of the new album.
But the fun might end there. Robert Smith described it in 2022 as "relentless doom and gloom. It’s the doomiest thing that we’ve ever done."
3+ minute instrumental intro before the vocal comes in? It's The Cure, alright. And I think they've still got it.
The real production/textural highlight on Alone are Roger O'Donnell's keys/synths. His contributions to much of post- Wild Mood Swings Cure have elevated everything they've done, honestly, which IMO is largely why 4:13 Dream was a weaker outing.
posted by tclark at 12:16 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
The real production/textural highlight on Alone are Roger O'Donnell's keys/synths. His contributions to much of post- Wild Mood Swings Cure have elevated everything they've done, honestly, which IMO is largely why 4:13 Dream was a weaker outing.
posted by tclark at 12:16 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
I am pretty excited, for the first time since Wish, which was okay. I don't think there is any post-wish album I have listened to more than once or twice. I like Alone, but the intro seems kind of formless. Like, Plainsong is huge and overwhelming, but the instruments are distinct and there are a half-dozen different melodies before the singing starts.
Actually, listening again, Alone does have a bunch of different melodies and things are somewhat distinct, there are just a couple elements with a lot of delay that kind of cloud everything up. Like there's some shaking sound that starts at 1:15 and plays every few measures. The singing sounds great, though.
posted by snofoam at 1:21 PM on September 28
Actually, listening again, Alone does have a bunch of different melodies and things are somewhat distinct, there are just a couple elements with a lot of delay that kind of cloud everything up. Like there's some shaking sound that starts at 1:15 and plays every few measures. The singing sounds great, though.
posted by snofoam at 1:21 PM on September 28
Disintegration is the best album ever!
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:45 PM on September 28 [7 favorites]
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:45 PM on September 28 [7 favorites]
I really don't like that I'm This Guy, because it's not fair to the talent and long tenure of Jason Cooper, he's been with the band longer than it had been around when he joined, and I know he's spent every single year of that being compared with Boris Williams... all respect to him. It's no comment on his skill or his playing, but the Cure have never sounded the same since Boris took his deep, solid, punchy drums and went home, and left us with this flat, dry, staccato sound. There's no body, no low end, no reverb. The mix as a whole just accentuates that - it's very mid- and top-heavy, the low end just disappears. The keyboards dominate the mix, even competing with the vocals. This exact same song with the exact same playing and instrumentation could be a masterpiece with different production, and I was afraid that would be the case. I like it better than 4:13 Dream, at least. I'm here for it but I wish I was being blown away by it.
posted by aoikaze at 3:49 PM on September 28 [2 favorites]
posted by aoikaze at 3:49 PM on September 28 [2 favorites]
I really wish I could buy concert/curiosity on bandcamp or hear it on spotify. There are archives, and thats tempting bc I bought that cassette at least twice. This is all to say I am ready for the gloom, bring it!
posted by drowsy at 4:18 PM on September 28
posted by drowsy at 4:18 PM on September 28
It looks like all the songs on the Curiosity side are bonus tracks on the deluxe versions of their respective albums. But yeah, I was looking for Concert today.
posted by snofoam at 4:24 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
posted by snofoam at 4:24 PM on September 28 [1 favorite]
Disintegration is the best album ever!
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:45 PM on September 28 [+] [⚑]
No it's not.
posted by readyfreddy at 7:38 PM on September 28
posted by inpHilltr8r at 1:45 PM on September 28 [+] [⚑]
No it's not.
posted by readyfreddy at 7:38 PM on September 28
He also revealed more about its sister record and his anticipated solo album. “So I’ve been working on two Cure albums, and one of them is finished,” he added. “Unfortunately, it’s the second one that’s finished. [On the other] I’ve got to do four vocals, and there are 10 songs on each album. We’re mixing next month on April 1, so I’ve got three weeks left.”
Asked about the sound of the upcoming records, Smith revealed: “Well the first Cure album is relentless doom and gloom. It’s the doomiest thing that we’ve ever done. The second one is upbeat, and my [solo] one won’t be out until next year.”
Wild Mood Swings, indeed.
Also; he lost both parents and brother recently? No wonder he’s opening with the darker album.
posted by Eikonaut at 2:38 PM on September 29
Asked about the sound of the upcoming records, Smith revealed: “Well the first Cure album is relentless doom and gloom. It’s the doomiest thing that we’ve ever done. The second one is upbeat, and my [solo] one won’t be out until next year.”
Wild Mood Swings, indeed.
Also; he lost both parents and brother recently? No wonder he’s opening with the darker album.
posted by Eikonaut at 2:38 PM on September 29
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posted by saladin at 11:47 AM on September 28 [2 favorites]