English rock band The Cure’s legendary status has remained unchallenged since their breakthrough in 1978. Widely celebrated for their iconic hits like “Friday I’m in Love” and “Just Like Heaven,” they also authored some of my personal favorites, including “Why Can’t I Be You” and “In Between Days.” Released on the first of November, their highly anticipated new album, Songs of a Lost World – which has been teased since 2019 – features eight tracks that vary from four minutes to over ten minutes long. In total, the album comes in at just under an hour, and I very much enjoyed listening to every second. A strong return to form since their last release in 2008, it has much to say.
Although I’ve always been a fan of The Cure, I must admit that there exists a vast expanse of their discography that I have yet to fully explore. However, after diving into their latest album, I can confidently say that this collection of songs feels more intense and emotionally charged than anything I’ve heard from them before. The songs, written by lead singer Robert Smith, are filled with topics such as loss, isolation, and the recognition of mortality. The album, fueled by Smith’s grief over the loss of his mother, father, and brother in the late 2010’s, carries a powerful emotional charge. The fraught nature of the subject matter explains why it took so long for the album’s release since the initial whispers in 2019 – because who could ever believe that such a personal album would be perfect enough to release?
The titles of the tracks on the album show none of the levity found in previous releases. Among the eight, the ones that stuck out to me the most were “I can never say goodbye” and “Alone.” “Alone” sets the tone for the album early on as the opening song. It crawls, it broods, and it portrays the grief that loss can bring in real time. “Where did it go?” repeats Smith six times throughout the almost seven-minute long-song where the lyrics don’t even start until the halfway mark.
“Alone” sets up more than the album’s tone: it delivers up the formula for the rest of the songs on Songs From A Lost World. At the earliest, the listener won’t hear Robert Smith’s voice on any of the songs for almost a full minute after one starts-as seen in “A Fragile Thing.” The last track on the album doesn’t feature Smith’s voice for almost seven minutes before he joins in for the last three. Knowing the raw emotions that Robert Smith poured into this album, I believe that the uneven balance between instruments and vocals allows for Smith’s vulnerable energy to be portrayed to the listener. This album is not about overcoming grief, it’s about being swallowed up by it. The instrumentals on the ten minute long “Endsong” revel in the darkness that Smith creates and I found that the ability to do that without words extremely impressive. Nobody is a stranger to loss, and The Cure has created the perfect album for people to be able to sit and just lay in their grief for a while.
This album did not disrupt my personal list of my favorite songs by The Cure, but I certainly saw the value in what it had to offer. I would definitely recommend this album to friends and family, and I am very excited to see what The Cure brings to the table in their follow up album that is confirmed to be released sometime next year.
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