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Nov 01, 2024 Web Exclusive By Dom Gourlay

Having been teasing the prospect of a new Cure album for some time, the band’s 14th long player is finally with us. The long-awaited follow-up to 2008’s 4:13 Dream, Songs of a Lost World is a thing of beauty. Composed of eight songs—five of which have been regular staples in the band’s live sets since October 2022—Songs of a Lost World is a sprawling masterpiece of melancholic musings set to a largely orchestral soundscape.

It’s a record that demands to be heard in full. No stops or gaps, but a continuous loop that’s harrowing at times but unquestionably essential as with the majority of its predecessors. Despite providing two lead singles (“Alone” and “A Fragile Thing”) in the build-up to Songs of a Lost World, there are no really obvious single choices here.

Instead, Songs of a Lost World represents a collection of pieces centered around themes of love, loss, and regret. Looking back through The Cure’s impressive canon of past works, its closest comparators could be 1981’s Faith or or its 1982 follow-up Pornography—from a lyrical perspective at least if not a musical one. While there are also nods to 1989’s Disintegration and 2000’s Bloodflowers in some of the arrangements and orchestration that surrounds it.

Clocking in at 12 seconds under seven minutes, opener “Alone” offers an epic introduction to the record. “This is the end of every song that we sing,” laments Robert Smith over drums that thud like a heartbeat while strings join hands with the band’s customary guitar, bass, and keys. Enveloping one another in perfect harmony, it might just be The Cure’s most quintessential entrée since 1989’s “Plainsong.”

What’s also noticeable here are the musical references to acts who’ve influenced The Cure in the past. Several of the songs here have a Mogwai or Sigur Rós feel about them as if their creator is returning the compliment somewhat. Both “And Nothing is Forever” and “I Can Never Say Goodbye” follow similar patterns to the latter, particularly during their ( ) and Takk eras, while the breathtaking closer, “Endsong,” features elements of post-rock, shoegaze, and even baggy-era Manchester in its wah-wah laden guitars.

The claustrophobic “Warsong,” where Smith opines, “We tell each other lies to hide the truth,” and upbeat “Drone:Nodrone”—arguably the closest thing to a traditional pop song on the record with its similarities to Disintegration’s “Fascination Street” also noteworthy—showcase two very different sides to Songs of a Lost World and its creators. Interestingly, neither has been played live up to this point yet both have the potential to become showstoppers over the coming months.

Penultimate number “All I Ever Am” provides a soothing respite, Smith in reflective mood (“All I ever am, is somehow quite never how I am”) over more strings and percussion rather than heavily accentuated guitars, which makes for an easier listen than its lyrical content suggests.

Nevertheless, it’s the glorious closer “Endsong” that encapsulates everything great about Songs of a Lost World. Nearly 10-and-a-half minutes long in total and already a firm live favorite, having ended the band’s sets for the best part of two years, “Endsong” is an overwrought statement of intent that paves the way for what might be coming next, with Smith recently promising a follow-up to Songs of Lost World as early as next year.

Sixteen years is a long time to wait between albums yet it somehow feels like The Cure have never been away. However, Songs of a Lost World is a momentous and welcome return from a band who’ve become national treasures over their nearly 50 years in existence. Whatever the future holds, this is up there with The Cure’s finest works to date. Long may that continue. (www.thecure.com)

Author rating: 9/10