I grew listening to hip hop, R&B and a little bit of reggae and through the years have become a huge reggae fan.  That is what my friends know of my music love. I still listen to old school hip hop and R&B, absolutely love reggae, dancehall, etc. So, when someone hears that The Cure was one of my favorite bands in the early 90’s they are a bit surprised.  Over my winter break my freshman year in college I was driving to a friend’s place and “Lovesong” came on and I was totally taken in by it.  I knew some of my roommates liked The Cure so when I got back to our apartment after break I asked to listen.  We (Shebby, Bobber and Radzia) sat there the first night listening to album after album and I was mesmerized by the music, the lyrics and vocals, the production, it was all so different to me, but also felt right.  I quickly became a huge Cure fan and for a good 5-6 years listened to them regularly.  Radzia, Shebby, Bobber and I even got to see them live in Philadelphia. It had this gloomy, dangerous atmosphere but yet was thoroughly beautiful and stunning. It somehow gives you a seductive tone, but also a suffocating feel.  It is amazingly theatrical.

The Cure arrived out of Crawley, Sussex, with their debut 1979 album, Three Imaginary Boys; they started with that riff-heavy drive of punk before quickly evolving into the prototypical band of their own making. So many other bands following in their footsteps, as the evolved themselves and a new genre. By the end of the 80’s, their sound changed even more with bringing more dark and sad lyrics but adding that sugary pop twist, creating that perfect blend of bitter and sweet, naughty and nice. Their evolution continued with their psychedelic and vivid raucous phase and then back into their gloomier and ominous sound. So my thought was, what will their latest, Songs of a Lost World, bring us?  Which Cure sound, which Cure mood, which Cure style? There have been 14 studio albums prior to this release, and each very similar but also so, so different.

SOALW starts off with “Alone,” a long song, almost 7 minutes long and Robert Smith doesn’t start signing until about halfway through. But the theatrical start, you get pulled right into the synths and strings and the propulsive rhythm. You instantly get that Disintegration and Wish feel. It pulled me back to the early 90’s and my college days. Smith sounds so perfect, there is no change in his voice.  The second track is “And Nothing Is Forever” starting off with the relaxing strings hitting us again with ghostly keys, once again a beautiful theatric flow. Roger O’Donnell and Perry Bamonte are amazing on the keys and syth throughout this song and entire album. This is an absolutely exquisite song, it could have been recorded the same time “To Wish Impossible Things” was recorded. We are thrown into “A Fragile Thing” with the pounding of drums and bass, Cure fans know the sound! You feel it in your chest. Smiths voice is amazing throughout this song. Then the guitar solo hits, it just takes you away, riding that wave of despair and happiness. Reaves Gabrels is just flat out amazing on this album. His guitar work talks to you.

We are then brought to the pounding “Warsong” with the beating drums again and a haunting guitar screeching through this almost upsetting but dare I say uplifting song. The guitar almost talks behind Smith’s voice, for an absolute eerie feel, you want to get away from it, but you are so attracted to it you can’t stop listening. They change up the vibe and mood with an almost industrial and metal feel with “Drone:Nodrone.” Still has The Cure feel, but an interesting groove going on, an upbeat and thrashing sound.  Great guitar solo and beating drums, just pounding and pounding! Smith’s voice working so well with this song. You wouldn’t think it fits with this album, but somehow it works so well. Next, we get a wonderful but gut-wrenching song about the death of Smith’s brother, “I Can Never Say Goodbye.” “Something wicked this way comes/From out the cruel and treacherous night/Something wicked this way comes/To steal away my brother's life/Something wicked this way comes/I can never say goodbye/I can never say goodbye.” This brings the same feel as “The Same Deep Water As You.” It is amazing how these songs stand on their own, but also pull from the past. Smith’s vocals are amazing, to say you can feel the pain is an absolute understatement.

“All I Ever Am” talks about the difficulty of being in the present moment, but I can speak for most Cure fans, we do not have any difficulty listening to this.  This is another wonderfully produced and composed song, flowing right along with the synth, piano, guitar, drums and the bass.  Simon Gallup’s bass lines are consistently hard and low slung, bringing the same rugged flow he has delivered on and off since the late 70’s. The album is finished off with the 10 minute 23 second song “Endsong” that takes us along a journey that doesn’t seem like a 10-minute song, it sucks you in and opens your mind. Jason Cooper once again drills us with the wonderful drums, it draws you in to the song, it holds you there, you can’t leave and you don’t want to leave. This is another one of those theatric tunes, one that you don’t hear you feel throughout your mind and body. At about the 6-and-a-half-minute mark Smith starts in and brings us that magical melancholia we love so much. It presents us with the mournful cry and makes it feel “Endsong” is a looming final statement from Smith and The Cure. “It's all gone, it's all gone/I will lose myself in time/It won't be long/It's all gone, it's all gone, it's all gone/Left alone with nothing at the end of every song/Left alone with nothing at the end of every song/Left alone with nothing/Nothing/Nothing/Nothing.” But according to Smith there are two more albums in the works to finish off a trilogy.

While Songs of a Lost World is not the masterpiece of some of their past works,  it certainly gives us that nostalgic throwback that most Cure fans will love.  It is still a great piece of work, and I would have loved a few more songs. It took me back to the time in my life, a time of my college years, where I didn’t really have a worry in life.  A time where I had so much fun, a time that I may not want to go back to but have so many amazing memories from. Smith’s voice is still a remarkable instrument after all these years, his producing and production is still on top, and while they maybe didn’t go out and change things up much, I think after all these years this is what we all wanted to hear.  That amazing theatrical mastery. The Cure is precisely where The Cure will always be—waiting, sinister, in a haze of ominous questions without answers. This album shows The Cure is still a force and still owes the genre. I will be waiting, hopefully not too long, for the next album.

One Love – Todd Judd