SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE CURE – SONGS OF A LOST WORLD

THE CURE
SONGS OF A LOST WORLD
POLYDOR/UNIVERSAL MUSIC

Barring a reformation, it’s hard to imagine it ever being acceptable for most bands to take 16 years to release new music. However, this is The Cure.

There’s therefore an obvious sense of palpable expectation around this album, and the band plays with that almost instantly on opener “Alone” by making everyone wait through an appropriately pomp-and-circumstance intro before exploding into grandiose majesty.

Happily, the wait hasn’t dimmed Robert Smith’s vocal power – his voice is the same plaintive gothic wail that existed as much as four decades ago, and his lyricism hasn’t suffered here either – it’s all still peculiarly interesting and entertaining.

While it would be easy to feel short-changed with an eight-track album (each track presumably taking two years to record!), they don’t short-change the listener on run time, as each song is a tapestry of cacophonous noise, particularly the epic closer “Endsong”.

It’s hard to poke holes in this – it won’t be radio-friendly given the songs’ length, but then that was never The Cure’s strength anyway. This isn’t an album to be consumed in bite-size, easily consumable pieces, after all. This is a banquet designed to be consumed in the entirety and majesty of one sitting. Fortunately, the blend of ingredients tastes good. Hopefully, we’re not waiting as long for the next course.

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