Fans have been speculating that The Cure may be teasing an imminent return to music following the band changing their social media logos and updating their website.
- READ MORE: On the cover – Robert Smith on 40 years of The Cure
Earlier today (September 9), The Cure took to their official social media pages to swap out their previous profile picture for a new one comprised of a brand new band logo with an all-black background. The sudden change of photo has led fans to believe that Robert Smith and co may be announcing some kind of return – which they hope is the long-awaited ‘Songs Of A Lost World’.
Fans quickly took to the comments section under the band’s Facebook update to share their excitement. “Please let it be finally an announcement of the new album!!,” wrote one user while another shared: “Come on gents, announce the new album! I hope we get it soon along with a new tour!”
Another fan wrote: “Come on, new album. I want to hear the studio version of those new songs you played in Leeds 2022.” They were referencing the likes of ‘A Fragile Thing’, ‘Another Happy Birthday‘ and ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye‘ which were three of the new tracks the band debuted while on tour in 2022.
Not only that, but guitarist Reeves Gabrels also shared a link directing fans to the band’s redesigned website and urging them to sign up to the mailing list.
The Cure website: news signup link — www.thecure.com
Posted by Reeves Gabrels on Monday, September 9, 2024
The news comes ahead of the release of the band’s two new songs as live recordings that will be a double A-side for climate charity ‘Earth Percent’.
Released via Naked Record Club – a record label that releases limited edition records on sustainable vinyl – ‘The Cure – Novembre: Live in France 2022’ is a double A-Side 12” Eco-Vinyl single featuring two live tracks that were recorded during the French leg of the band’s ‘Shows Of A Lost World’ tour.
The first song, ‘And Nothing Is Forever’ was recorded live in Montpellier at the Sud de France Arena on November 8 2022, while ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’ was recorded live in Toulouse, Zénith, on November 13 2022. These are the first new tracks from The Cure in 16 years.
Back in 2022, The Cure also performed two other new tracks titled ‘Alone’ and ‘Endsong’ while kicking off their world tour. All of the unreleased songs are speculated to be featured on the band’s long-awaited new album, ‘Songs Of A Lost World‘, which would mark their first LP in 16 years, following from 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream‘.
In a four-star review of their live performance at London’s OVO Arena Wembley during that year, NME shared how Smith took the time to promise “that the new songs ‘won’t be new for much longer.’”
The review also described the new tracks, sharing: “The ticking clock piano rhythms and rolling bass of ‘A Fragile Thing’ accompany the promise that there’s “nothing you can do to change the end”, while ‘Endsong’ is a stunning, sprawling soundscape to portray Smith utterly lost in a universe where there’s “Nothing left of all I loved”. The truly devastating heart of the new material previewed comes with ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’ – where howling guitars match the singer’s fear of “shadows growing closer now” as “something wicked this way comes, to steal away my brother’s life”. You feel that these songs are for those who mean the world to him.”
Speaking to NME backstage at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, Smith took the time to exclusively confirm that The Cure’s next album would be titled ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, sharing: “It’s got artwork, it’s got a running order, it’s almost done! They’re so slow because of vinyl, but it might come in September. I’d rather it just came out. I can’t stand the anticipation.”
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.
“I have to keep revisiting it. It’s a thing I’ve wanted to do for so many years. I realise I’ve only got one shot at doing it, so I’ve now started to add real instruments and acoustic instruments, whereas this time two years ago it was literally just feedback – but I’ve kind of grown a bit disenchanted with it. I’d listened to it like three times and I think it’s rubbish.”
At the 2022 Ivor Novellos’ The Cure spoke to NME and confirmed that the album was “almost finished”.
“Reeves our guitar player has come over from America for the day just to finish a couple of solos, I’ve got to finish a couple of vocals,” Smith revealed. “Essentially it’s a 12 track album. It’s there, it’s kind of half-mixed and half-finished. It’s a weird thing. It’s kind of evolved over the last two years. It hasn’t always been a good thing to have been left alone with it. You pick at it, like picking at seams, and everything falls apart.
He continued: “It’ll be worth the wait. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done, but then I would say that. I’m not doing an Oasis when I say that, ‘IT’S THE BEST FOOKIN’ ALBUM’. A lot of the songs are difficult to sing, and that’s why it’s taken me a while.”
The frontman has long teased the band’s long-awaited “merciless” new record, which keyboardist Roger O’Donnell previously described as “the most intense, saddest, most dramatic and most emotional record we’ve ever made, and then we can just walk away from it… Listening to the demos, it is that record. I think everybody will be happy with it.”
He continued: “The problem is, it’s 12 years since the last album so it becomes precious. When you’ve got a back catalogue like The Cure, it’s a lot to live up to. Robert has said, ‘if The Cure say any more, it had better be important and it had better be fucking good’.
“It is, it’s going to be an amazing record. I just suggest a little patience.”
Discussing the themes and character of the long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream‘, Smith said that the album “doesn’t have very much light on it” and that it sounds “more like ‘Disintegration’ than ‘Head On The Door’.”
“It’s pretty relentless, which will appeal to the hardcore of our audience, but I don’t think we’ll be getting any Number One singles off it or anything like that!” he told NME, explaining that it was informed by lockdown. “It’s been quite harrowing, like it has for everyone else.”
He continued: “I’ve been more privileged than most, but lockdown and COVID has affected me in as much as I’ve lost an entire generation of aunts and uncles in under a year. It’s things like that which have informed the way I’ve been with the record.”
Smith previously opened up about how losing his mother, father and brother has inspired the ‘darkness’ within the forthcoming album, telling The Los Angeles Times: “obviously it had an effect on me. It’s not relentlessly doom and gloom. It has soundscapes on it, like ‘Disintegration’, I suppose. I was trying to create a big palette, a big wash of sound.”
Smith added: “The working title was ‘Live From the Moon’, because I was enthralled by the 50th anniversary of the Apollo landing in the summer. We had a big moon hanging in the studio and lunar-related stuff lying around. I’ve always been a stargazer.”
Speaking to NME about his hopes for the album, Smith said: “Before I used to write about stuff that I thought I understood. Now I know I understand it. The lyrics I’ve been writing for this album, for me personally, are more true. They’re more honest. That’s probably why the album itself is a little bit more doom and gloom. I feel I want to do something that expresses the darker side of what I’ve experienced over the last few years – but in a way that will engage people.”
The frontman added: “Some of the albums like ‘Pornography’ and ‘Disintegration’ are kind of relentless. I levelled ‘Disintegration’ with some songs like ‘Lullaby’ and ‘Lovesong’, but I think this one is more like ‘Pornography’ because it hasn’t got any of those songs that lighten the mood at all.”
More news on the band’s upcoming 14th album is expected to follow in the weeks ahead.
