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Oct 09, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Sam Rockman

The Cure are releasing a new album, Songs of a Lost World, on November 1 on Fiction/Capitol. Now they have released the album’s second single, “A Fragile Thing.” Listen below, followed by the album’s tracklist.

Songs of a Lost World will be the iconic band’s first studio album in 16 years. Previously the band shared its first single, “Alone,” which is was #1 on our Songs of the Week.

The Cure’s frontman Robert Smith had this to say about the new single in a press release: “‘A Fragile Thing’ is driven by the difficulties we face in choosing between mutually exclusive needs and how we deal with the futile regret that can follow these choices, however sure we are that the right choices have been made…it can often be very hard to be the person that you really need to be.”

Smith wrote and arranged all the songs on Songs of a Lost World. He produced and mixed the album with Paul Corkett. The Cure’s current lineup on the album is: Robert Smith (voice/guitar/6 string bass/keyboard), Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums/percussion), Roger O’Donnell (keyboard), and Reeves Gabrels (guitar). Songs of a Lost World was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales.

The album cover features “Bagatelle,” a 1975 sculpture by Janez Pirnat, and was designed by longtime Cure collaborator Andy Vella (from a concept by Smith).

The Cure’s last studio album was 2008’s 4:13 Dream and Songs of a Lost World has long been in the works and teased for release several times over the years. In recent weeks the band have sent out postcards to fans to tease album, as well as updating their social media channels, launching a mysterious new website (www.songsofalost.world), and even putting up a flyer promoting the album in a pub in Crawley, the town where The Cure formed in 1978.

Since 4:13 Dream, the band have continued to tour. In 2021 Smith collaborated with the Scottish band CHVRCHES on their song “How Not to Drown.” In 2020 he collaborated with Gorillaz on the song “Strange Timez.” In 2019 The Cure were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Read our 40th anniversary appreciation article on The Cure’s 1982 album Pornography.

Songs of a Lost World Tracklist:

1. Alone
2. And Nothing is Forever
3. A Fragile Thing
4. Warsong
5. Drone:Nodrone
6. I Can Never Say Goodbye
7. All I Ever Am
8. Endsong

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