There are few acts as beloved as The Cure, who epitomized the romantic, tragic goth of the end of the twentieth century, yet were also able to intersperse that with exuberant pop hits. As time moved on and we all got older, Robert Smith & co. gave us just enough to keep our dark flame alive for them, but it did feel increasingly like just looking back at when we were younger. Thankfully, they’ve finally put out a new record in Songs of a Lost World, bringing their epic, extended tragedy to now.
And the Songs are extended, usually with slow instrumental openings that build the drama like the drip of tears, but leave the songs to average at over six minutes (and none below four). In a way, this is a reflection on the long-held desire for new Cure (and something only an act of their size could do in today’s skip-track streaming music industry). But The Cure can pull it off, building such songs as the lovely heartbreak “And Nothing Is Forever” & “A Fragile Thing”, even giving an iconic, ten-plus minute epic closer in “Endsong”.
Admittedly, there is no “Friday I’m In Love” or the like, but those aren’t the kind of Songs that The Cure are finally delivering to this Lost World.
