After 16 years without releasing any new material, The Cure returned earlier this year with their fourteenth studio album: Songs Of A Lost World. Although the band achieved mainstream success in the 1980s and early 1990s with hits such as ‘The Lovecats’ and ‘Friday I’m In Love’, this album returns to the band’s goth roots, eschewing pop songs in favour of a darker sound.
This is immediately evident on the first song and single of the album: ‘Alone’. It begins with an extended instrumental introduction, something which occurs at the beginning of most of the songs on the record. The use of strings builds the sense of a lush soundscape, creating a clear sonic direction for the rest of the record, while the repetition of “where did it go?” touches on themes of confusion and loss.
The more piano-driven ‘And Nothing Is Forever’ comes next, largely following the musicality of the first song, with strings again making an appearance. Lyrically, it appears to call back to their earlier hit ‘Lovesong’ (“However far away”). However, it also touches on the idea of mortality, with lead singer and songwriter Robert Smith repeating “and nothing is forever”, as well as the idea of loneliness (“if you promise you’ll be with me in the end”), a recurring theme throughout the album.
The second single, ‘A Fragile Thing’ is slightly more uptempo than the previous two songs, though it returns to the same lyrical theme of loss. The instrumentation on the chorus is a highlight of the album, and it marks a good change of pace, being the first song below five minutes in length. ‘Warsong’ is another strong point instrumentally, with the almost droning guitar sound mixing well with the strings in the background.
‘Drone:Nodrone’ is the closest thing to a pop song on Songs of a Lost World, with it having the highest tempo of all the tracks. It's also the catchiest the band gets on the album, with this contrasting against the dark lyrics – “I lose my reason when I fall through the door/endless back night lost in looking for more” – in a way reminiscent of classic songs like ‘Inbetween Days’. This is probably my favourite song on the album, as it not only stands on its own two feet but also fits in with the overall lyrical themes really well.
‘I Can Never Say Goodbye Again’ is a strikingly personal song and a return to the length that punctuated the beginning of the album. It deals with the theme of loss in the most overt way on the album. Smith sings, “something wicked this way comes/to steal away my brother’s life”. The “brother” being referred to is Smith’s brother Richard, who passed away while the album was being written. Indeed, in this interview Smith talks about how he wrote the song, stating: “I wrote this song a lot of different ways, until I hit on a very simple narrative of what actually happened on the night he died”. The repetition of “I can never say goodbye” speaks to anyone that has ever experienced loss, vocalising what many of us that have lost a loved one feel.
The album concludes with ‘Endsong’, a sweeping ten minute epic populated by sparse lyrics from Smith. This song returns to the same themes that have been discussed throughout the record, with Smith repeating “it’s all gone”. It ends Songs Of A Lost World with the lead singer repeating “nothing”, something that encapsulates the feeling of darkness that has pervaded the whole project.
This record is a brilliant example of a band making a great contribution to their canon late into their career. Although it took a while to arrive, it’s definitely it to hear The Cure return to their groundbreaking, nearly operatic sound. Whilst some of the songs (‘Alone’ and ‘Nothing Is Forever’) end abruptly, I don't feel this detracts from the quality of what is otherwise a very fine album indeed.
