The Cure are teasing what could be a potential event in Blackpool for their upcoming album ‘Songs Of A Lost World‘.
READ MORE: On the cover – Robert Smith on 40 years of The Cure
The band haven’t released a studio album since 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream‘, but have sprung into action in recent weeks by teasing the new album on social media before sending postcards out to fans confirming the album’s title and release date (November 1). They also erected a ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ poster at the Crawley pub where they played their first gig.
Today (September 19), Robert Smith and co. took to their official Instagram account to share a new teaser clip. The video features a projection of a stone with the band’s forthcoming album title on it and its release date of November 11 in Roman numerals. The video also featured various clips of the Blackpool Tower and light-up Blackpool signs.
The caption of the post includes the website SONGSOFALOST.WORLD as well as “53.8159° N, 3.0552° W”, which are the coordinates for the Blackpool Tower, leading fans to speculate that the band may be potentially planning to have a gig in the city, possibly at The Empress Ballroom.
“A Cure gig in the ballroom would be awesome,” wrote one fan in the comments section of the Instagram post while another shared: “This is definitely symbolic, the Railway Pub, Blackpool the birth place of Robert, this may be the last album and tour.”
The new clip comes after new billboards were spotted in the likes of Rome, Paris and NYC that featured the album title and an image of a stone with a face in it. The New York billboard is located on the northeast corner of W. 52nd St and Broadway, just above Times Square.
Recently, The Cure launched a secret website and WhatsApp channel ahead of the release of their long-awaited new album.
To gain access, fans need to visit www.songsofalost.world and then enter the album release date in Roman numerals: I. XI. MMXXIV. You’ll then get a glimpse of what could be new artwork in the form of a decaying statue, as well as being invited to sign up to a mailing list and join The Cure’s WhatsApp community.
Elsewhere, the band are set to release 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 (‘And Nothing Is Forever’ and ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’) that were recorded during the French leg of the band’s ‘Shows Of A Lost World’ tour.
Robert Smith of The Cure performs at Madison Square Garden on June 20, 2023 in New York, New York. (Photo by Sacha Lecca/Rolling Stone via Getty Images)
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’.
In a four-star review of their live performance at London’s OVO Arena Wembley that year, NME noted 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.”
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.”
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.”
He 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.”
Elsewhere, O’Donnell recently revealed that he was diagnosed with blood cancer last year. The band’s keyboardist shared the news last week (September 1) on the first day of Blood Cancer Awareness Month.
He took to his official X/Twitter account to reveal that he was “diagnosed with a very rare and aggressive form of lymphoma” back in September 2023 and has since recovered.
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