As marketing strategies go, The Cure aligning their long-awaited comeback record with the spookiest week of the year is proving to be a devilishly wicked one. In the build-up to the Friday (Nov. 1) release of Songs of a Lost World, the group’s first LP in 16 years, the band played an intimate set in London for the BBC, which aired on Halloween Eve on TV and radio. Their release day show at east London’s Troxy on Friday evening featured a performance of the new album in full and a further amount of greatest hits and fan favorites.
The goth icons’ show at the stunning Art deco building was not adorned with candle-lit pumpkins and fake spiders, but it was fittingly dark and ghoulish. The wares on the merch table came in one color only: black.
Even frontman Robert Smith knew he ought to cut through the gloom on a day of celebration like this. Prior to the show’s start and during the intermission, sound effects of a deluge of rain played out on the PA. “I’m begging you to not have the thunderclap just before we come back on stage again,” he joked with his team during one their return to stage following an intermission.
The 16-year wait since 2008’s 4:13 Dream has been the longest in the band’s history, but this has not been an entirely dormant period. The group have toured extensively, headlined Glastonbury Festival in 2019 and embarked on an accompanying promotional tour — notably their Shows of a Lost World run in 2023 — before the album was completed and released. There was even time for collaborations with Chvrches and Gorillaz, and a scrap with Ticketmaster (which our Bob won.)
The tune largely remains the same, but Songs of a Lost World confronts new challenges. Smith has said the songs on this record were influenced by the death of his brother and the collective loss through the pandemic. Keyboardist Roger O’Donnell was diagnosed with cancer, and bassist Simon Gallup, the longest-tenured member after Smith, briefly left the band in 2021 saying he was “fed up of betrayal” before returning months later. Life is fragile, but The Cure’s presence has remained a constant, even as they approach their 50th anniversary in 2028.
The record has been heavily delayed by Smith’s own admission. He is a perfectionist, but the best kind: everything that comes out is exact and impactful. Words are not wasted, nor are the enormity of the productions that envelope them. It’s been worth the wait.
This momentous release day show – which was live-streamed on YouTube – proved to be a celebration of a band still very much at the top of their game, and may go down as one of their most memorable of their storied career.
