The Cure - "Songs Of A Lost World" (2024)

After 16 long years, The Cure have finally released a new album, their 14th, and ooh its a gooden. And honestly, there was no guarantee that it was going to turn out well, which makes it especially enjoyable as a fan. The Cure are one of my very favourite bands, and probably the only one that I have loved so consistently ever since I was a young child. My dad would play the singles all the time when I was young, and as I became a teenager I explored their greater discography and was amazed by the breadth and versatility of their records. And now as an adult I feel like they are one of the few artists who I still feel so strongly towards as I did in my early teenage years. 

While I regularly come back to pretty much all of the band's releases up to and including Wish, the following 4 records the band released in the late 90s and 2000s are considered a significant step down be me and many others. It felt like Robert Smith and Co. were just running out of steam; either rehashing their past glories or bringing half-arsed and shallow gimmicks to the table in the place of genuine inspiration. This all cumulated in 2008's 4:13 Dream; and while better than the preceding album (2004's self titled, and baffling mess of a record that for some reason the group got nu-metal super producer Ross Robinson to produce), it was essentially a complete damp squib of a record that sounded more like a touched up b-sides compilation than anything genuinely inspired or meaningful.

And then nothing... for 11 years. Smith did suggest for a while that a sequel album to 4:13 would be released featuring other songs from those sessions, but that never materialised. The band essentially became a touring legacy act during the 2010s (which resulted in some excellent live albums). Then in 2019, Robert announced that a new album would be on its way that very year - which didn't happen. The years rolled by again, with Smith promising it was still coming but with nothing to show. By the time 2022 rolled around with the band on a tour literally named after this album (Shows Of A Lost World) and it still wasn't out, I had given up hope that we were ever going to hear this album. So when the opening cut, Alone, was dropped by the band at the end of September as the lead single for the album, and it was easily the best song they had released in 30 years, I was beyond exited to hear the full thing.

In some ways, Alone is vintage Cure: the long drawn out intro, the slow and steady bassline and Smith's melancholic vocals. In others, it feels more Cocteau Twins than The Cure. The piercing, reverb-gated drums and skittering, reverby synth effects create this disorientating and otherworldly atmosphere; and the whole mix is close and claustrophobic. Lyrically, while certainly in keeping with bands previous work, it does tread new water for the group. The song quite overtly deals in the themes of mortality, death and facing the end of times in a very stark and raw way. Shaped by the deaths of his parents and older brother, and Smith facing his own aging and mortality; Songs Of A Lost World is more upfront and raw than the bands previous 'doom and gloom' records, set to really dense and claustrophobic instrumentation and production.

The second single, A Fragile Thing is a more typically radio friendly single for the record with its higher tempo and catchy chorus. It's still very dark, with Smith describing the song as a flipside to their classic track Lovesong. Where that track was literally a wedding present from Smith to his wife (and a moment of hope within the darkness of Disintegration), A Fragile Thing is about how fragile and all consuming love is. The momentum of the track is carried by rigid, staccato hits of piano that gives the effect of a timer ticking down to inevitable doom.

The middle of the record is occupied by the two 'rockiest' cuts of the album, Warsong and Drone:Nodrone. Warsong slowly builds and builds though its drawn out intro, where thundrous blown out drums clatter against roaring guitars. When Smith's vocals finally come in, he sounds like prophet of the apocalypse, howling about humanity's innate desire to hate and to fight and to kill. The song is deeply nihilistic and presented in such an immense, monolithic context. Drone:Nodrone on the other hand is a song about complete and utter bewilderment. It inspired by a drone flying above Smith one day and making him feel like a man out of time who doesn't connect with the modern world around him. The song has a bit more of a groove than the rest of the album, and spacy synths which calls back to the band's excursions into alt dance and baggy from the early 90s. The disorientating, spiralling keyboards and whining lead guitars also give off a vibe similar to the heavier stadium rock songs from Wish.

The album descends deeper into the darkness in the second half, starting the with the really quite harrowing I Can Never Say Goodbye. The song is a slow and stark ballad directly referencing the death of Robert's Brother. The dense, claustrophobic production that characterises the rest of album makes way for more space to allow the pain and grief in Smith's words to sink in. All I Ever Am dials the intensity back up with clattering, pummelling percussion, sirenning synths and crunchy bass as Robert confronts his own mortality, beliefs and regrets. This leads into the ten and a half minute behemoth of a closer, Endsong. The song slowly builds through its six and a half minute intro before Smith's vocals finally come in. The song has an immense sense of finality to it and is the perfect way to wrap up the record. Robert is promising that another Cure record will be on its way soon, but if that doesn't happen Endsong (and the record as a whole) is a fitting book end to the band's discography.

The main critique that the album has been receiving by some is that the production is a little bricked out. And while I don't agree with this for most of the album (I feel like the production creates this oppressive, suffocating feeling), the second track And Nothing Is Forever does feel a bit unbalanced. Everything in the high end of the mix (Smith's vocals, the synths, the guitars) feel like they're fighting for space, while the low end (bass and drums) seems really set back and distant. It does lessen my enjoyment of an otherwise great cut.

Songs Of A Lost World has achieved something that the band hasn't managed to in 30 years - it's a concise, focused record with something really meaningful to say. Smith has always written about death, impending doom and the destruction of the things in life he holds dear; but here he is coming from a much more grounded and real-world angle. Faith and Pornography are records obsessed with grotesque imagery and the angry nihilism of youth. Disintegration is a yearning and romantic under it's apocalyptic imagery. SOALW is Smith staring down the barrel of the gun with no façade, no pretence.

Top Tracks: Alone, A Fragile Thing, Warsong, Drone:Nodrone, I Can Never Say Goodbye, All I Ever Am, Endsong

9/10

Slowdive - "everything is alive" (2023)

As I mentioned when I reviewed loveless way back when, Slowdive's Souvlaki was my introduction to shoegaze proper, after years of loving artists that draw a lot of inspiration from the genre. I never got around to talking about that record, but it very much deserves its cult classic status. Its such a moody and atmospheric piece that you can really loose yourself in. I remember following this I checked out their 2017 comeback album, and it didn't really grab me in the same way. It felt quite blown out and maximalist compared to the subtlety and patience of Souvlaki. It was still a very moody and atmospheric record, but it came across like it was built for arenas rather than headphones.

everything is alive follows this up with a much more low-key vibe, and I've found myself putting it on a fair amount since its release despite it not being particularly innovative or ground-breaking record in the band's discography or genre as a whole. It is very dreary and greyscale compared to the hazy dreamlike nature of Souvlaki, even bordering on gothic rock in places. The tracks swell up around you, but lack much vibrancy, feeling very wintery and sparse - which has been perfect for the early morning train rides I have been having to take for work. 

The record opens with shanty, which is driven by swells of monotonous synths, as the feedback laden guitars fill up the lower mix, evoking feelings of looking out of the window on a grey rainy day. This is followed up by prayer remembered, where the slow plodding bass and drums and lack of any vocals make it feel like it wouldn't be out of place in The Cure's early goth period. alife picks things up a bit with spiralling, jangly guitars, a more notable melody and up-tempo pace.

I'd say the second half of the record isn't quite as slow and greyscale as the first, which is a good thing as I think a whole record that dour and bereft could get a bit tiring by the end. kisses is probably the catchiest song on the record, the vocals are the clearest and the song is structured as a simple new wave pop song, just with more atmospheric dynamics and effects. It really picks the record up after how slow and downtempo andalucia plays leaves the first half. skin in the game also has a memorable hook, although I don't quite vibe as much with it as kisses or alife. It's a tad slower and doesn't really have the melodic guitar parts those two songs did, but it's also not slow and airy enough to loose myself in like prayer remembered.

chained to a cloud is built around an ascending synth part, which like the title suggests feels like ascending up into the atmosphere. While quite a novel change of pace for the record (which up to this point has not sounded at all heavenly and ethereal), it's probably the weakest song on the album. It feels pretty underdeveloped, and the repeating synth loop is warn into the ground fairly quickly. This leaves the closer, the slab, left - which is by far the strongest song on the album. It's a monolithic piece, aiming for the wall of sound approach rather than the softer dynamics the rest of the album as played with leading up to it. The chugging, mechanical drums, ringing keyboards and feedback drenched guitars overwhelm you as you feel like your approaching some kind of impassable wall or structure. Where the rest of the album is bleak, the slab is sinister and imposing.

everything is alive would be a more notable album if it had more moments like the slab that made you feel a variety of emotions, but as it is, it is a pretty consistent if unsurprising release that's got enough highlights for me to come back to it when I'm in the mood for something bleak and moody.

Top Tracks: alife, kisses, the slab

7/10

Fontaines D.C. - "Skinty Fia" (2022)

Fontaines D.C. have come back quickly with their third album, and following the singles released beforehand I have been very exited for it. The band has delved further into the gothic rock sounds of A Hero's Death, creating a record even darker and gloomier than that one. The tone and atmosphere is also more grimier and grittier than the last album's dejectedness, there's a bit more angst and bite showing through. This is exemplified by the lead single, Jackie Down The Line. The song sounds like a gnarled, bastardised version of Bigmouth Strikes Again with its jangly riff and lyrics characterising the self-sabotaging and self-doubting side of ourselves that we all have as this omnipresent and sinister character of Jackie.

This sinister underbelly is carried through the next couple of singles, I Love You and the title track. I Love You initially calls back to The Cure's Lovesong in both its memorable guitar line and lyrics about complete devotion to someone (or something). While initially appearing as a more standard love song, the track is about the band's love for their home country, Ireland, despite acknowledging all of its faults. These themes rear their head in the second half where the track flips on its head and frontman Grian Chatten doesn't shy away from any topic, from the country's economic struggles, to high male suicide rate, to the influence and atrocities of the Catholic Church. It is such an effective communication of the duality of national pride and national shame. Skinty Fia also has strong connection to Irish heritage. The name translates to 'The damnation of the deer' in English, and is an old Irish saying referencing the prehistoric Irish elk, who's extinction is traditionally attributed to it's oversized antlers becoming a hindrance rather than benefit - once again fitting in with the themes of misplaced national pride, and the preference of cultural tradition over social progress. The track is accompanied by this semi-industrial, trip hoppy beat that is a real change of pace for the band (who thus far have very much operated within the standard post-punk guitar, bass and drums wheelhouse) and is actually a really good fit for them.

The record opens on a similar note, with the tense and brooding In ár gCroíthe go deo. The title is a Gaelic saying which translates to "in our hearts forever". The phrase was requested by an old Irish lady in England to be on her gravestone, but the church of England refused unless there was an English translation also inscribed. This mix of grief and anger is really effectively conveyed by the meaty and rumbling rhythm guitar and pulsating electronics. It really personifies the feeling of complete injustice and prejudice her family must've been feeling. This rumbling anger is turned into a complete rage for the closer, Nabokov. The track follows the feelings of bitterness and self-deprecation someone can feel when devoted to someone, with the guitars are distorted and roaring and Chatten basically shouting to reflect this.

While a really like everything I have mentioned so far, the record does fall back in a couple of places. Big Shot and How Cold Love Is are pretty run of the mill post-punk that don't really do much unique; although I do enjoy the Interpol-esque interplay between the chiming lead guitar and Chatten's vocals on the latter. It just doesn't quite have the hook to get it over the line and make it something special. Bloomsday and Roman Holiday on the other hand are two really good songs that are a bit marred by their production. Both songs are layered up with loads of layer of reverb and just end up feeling kind of smudgy. This is really disappointing in the case of Roman Holiday because the song at the core of it is perhaps one of the best the band has ever written, and I find myself singing it to myself; but whenever I actually listen to it I can't help but think it would sound much better if it wasn't quite so washed out. The Couple Across The Way is a stripped back ballad featuring only Grian Chatten and an accordion. It's a decent song, although doesn't really get me like the ballads from A Hero's Death (Sunny and No). It also feels kind of jarring in its placement in the record, being straight between the much more heavily produced Roman Holiday and Skinty Fia.

The best of Skinty Fia is the best material Fontaines D.C. have produced so far, and the lyrical content is certainly the meatiest of the three records. However, the slight inconsistencies mean that it hasn't quite reached the level of A Hero's Death in terms of enjoyment over the entire runtime. It's still a really good record though and I'm excited for where the band are going with the more heady and cerebral themes.

Top Tracks: In ár gCroíthe go deo, Jackie Down The Line, Skinty Fia, I Love You, Nabokov,

7/10

Fontaines D.C. - "A Hero's Death" (2020)

I was turned onto Fontaines D.C. by my dad just before the release of this record, saying they sounded somewhere between Joy Division and Arctic Monkeys. And their debut very much fit that description, a moody but breakneck selection of straight to the point post-punk songs. A Hero's Death, on the other hand, delves deeper into the slower, darker and more intense side of post-punk. Keeping with the Joy Division comparisons, its very much more Closer than Unknown Pleasures. The songs are slower and more drawn out, being slow burns that let you sink into the atmospheric bass grooves and Grian Chatten's repetitive, mantra-esque lyrics.

Lyrically, the album starts sad and stays there for its 46 minute runtime. Focusing on the complete social and political disenfranchisement that can lead to the feelings of depression and emptiness. These tracks are so desolate and defeated that even the repeated mantras that Chatten sings sound almost half hearted like he doesn't even really believe them. "Love is the main thing" he repeatedly sings on the second track, but it doesn't sound like he feels any love, it sounds like him clinging to the idea of love to give life some meaning and purpose. It's bleak stuff.

The album also hits the post-punk sweet spot musically, opening with the foggy and slow duo of I Don't Belong and Love Is The Main Thing. The gnarled but restrained rhythm sections sound near enough gothic, interlocking with the twangy but low in the mix lead guitar. These tracks sound like a wet and cold November evening. Especially Love Is The Main Thing with its vibrato effected guitar and references to rain in the lyrics. Televised Mind picks up the tempo for the first time in the record, as everything becomes heavier and the vocal delivery more twisted and cynical. The pummelling bass sounds like some rage filled late night drive, with a whining lead guitar solo just to add to the intensity. A Lucid Dream sounds exactly like its title suggests, a delusional nightmare that's completely disorienting. The back half just descends into noisy madness.

The only time the record tries to dig itself out of the depths is on the title track, a song built around a slightly less bitter and sad guitar line and "ooh ooh" backing vocals, where Chatten repeats the mantra of "Life ain't always empty" over, and lists off ways to make yourself feel happier and more fulfilled in life. It's the kind of track that could come of cringy and overly sentimental, but the band pull it off very well. I Was Not Born is also more uptempo, but its more of an angry anti-capitalist anthem than a 'things can get better' song. The Closer, No, is also a real gem. It's a slow, drawn out ballad that's tinged with hope, but ultimately gets bogged back down in despair, which is a perfect representation of the album as a whole, and the view of life it's trying to present. It is darkly bittersweet.

A Hero's Death is a really solid post-punk record. It just does everything a record like this should to a T. Some might feel that this makes it an inferior imitation of the classics, but for me it just hits the right buttons just like they do. It's another record to add to the list of what to listen to when I'm in the mood for depressing post-punk.

Top Tracks: I Don't Belong, Love Is The Main Thing, Televised Mind, A Lucid Dream, A Hero's Death, No

8/10

The Cure - "Disintegration" (1989)

This masterpiece turned 30 this week. On the eve of his 29th birthday, Robert Smith was musing about how all his idols had produced their masterpieces before they reached 30 and then in his eyes declined in quality since, and that The Cure had yet to create their magnum opus. So he began writing what is now considered it. This feeling of the bands impending demise combined with tensions within the group over Lol Tolhurst's (the only other remaining founding member besides Smith) growing alcohol problem and inability to work to create one of the bands darkest and most isolating releases. It is long, slow, dense but also spacious and sonically rich and it just commands you to sink into the apocalyptic world it creates for you.

The album opens with Plainsong, a track which could be the closer for any other album. The shimmering synths and heavy reverb have an open finality to them, and Smith's allusions to the end of the world sound like there has been this huge world ending event before the album has even started. That really sets the tone for the next 72 minutes, the world has already fallen apart and Smith is just living in the aftermath. The next song, Pictures Of You, is beautifully nostalgic about past good times and incredibly melancholic about the fact they are over. Despite its seven and a half minute run-time, I reckon it is one of the most accessible on the record. It has such a universal topic that everyone can relate to.

Despite its oppressive atmosphere, the record actually has a couple of really big hits on it. Lovesong and Lullaby are incredibly catchy pop songs at their core, they are just dressed up and the melancholia which floods the rest of the album. Both songs have some of the most catchy bass lines the band have ever recorded. Lovesong has the same universality as Pictures Of You, detailing just pure, unabashed devotion to someone. Lullaby is weirder, as the bass bounces along Smith sings about a creepy nightmare creature in a soft ASMR-style voice. Following Lullaby is Fascination Street, which sounds like some kind of nihilistic apocalypse anthem. "Move to the music like you know that it's over" Smith shouts during the chorus.

On the second half of the album, the songs get longer, denser and darker. Prayers For Rain feels like it is completely smothering you with its rich atmosphere. It legitimately feels like the song is taking place in a thunderstorm. In fact, the transition between it and Same Deep Water As You is the sound of a thunderstorm. Where Prayers For Rain feels like you are being forced down by its audio thunderstorm, Same Deep Water As You feels like letting yourself get washed away by the ensuing flood. The title track is perhaps the most intense of all of them, opening with the sound of a glass smashing and slowly builds over 8 minutes as Smith works himself into a self destructive meltdown. It feels like every emotion is pouring out of him to the point of exhaustion. Following this is Homesick, which feels perfectly placed after Disintegration. Smith determinedly sings "I'll never go home", which I can't help but feel is related to the previous track. Smith just wants to run away from everything that went down on the previous track. The closer, Untitled, leaves the album in much the same way Plainsong opened it, open and empty. But it does this to an even greater extent. There isn't much of a sense of completion to the track, it just leaves the listener in a frail, depressed state, hoping things might get better.

This album is near enough flawless, and completely transcends age. It sounds as fresh and unique as any album today. If you have an hour and twelve minutes to spare, just plug your headphones in and let it absorb you. You will bound to find something that you can relate to. Smith got his magnum opus, and if I'm going to be honest he predicted his downfall as well. The band have never been quite this good since.

Top Tracks: Plainsong, Pictures Of You, Closedown, Lovesong, Last Dance, Lullaby, Fascination Street, Prayers For Rain, Same Deep Water As You, Disintegration, Homesick, Untitled

10/10

Joy Division - "Closer" (1980)

I love Joy Division's era defining debut, Unknown Pleasures, but it is only recently that I have been properly listening to their follow up, Closer, and some of their other one off singles and compilation tracks. I have listened to Closer before recently, but only really straight after Unknown Pleasures, and never really paying much attention to it, as I was always doing something while it was on. So I have been listening to it a lot over the past few weeks, giving it more attention, and for a long while it just wasn't clicking and I didn't know why. It doesn't sound all that different from Unknown Pleasures (a few lighter, more new-wavey moments scatter the tracklist but its not a drastic shift); and it still has Ian Curtis' twisted and tortured lyrics on top. I just always ended up drifting during the middle of the record, but it was never on the same track so I couldn't just assume that there was just a track that wasn't working. It was only when I once again had it on in the background while doing some housework where it really clicked and I found myself really enjoying the record.

The album opens with Atrocity Exhibition, a track very different to Unknown Pleasures' sound. It has these thunderous drums and wild, noisy guitar screeching at the top of the mix. Curtis sings about the Victorian insane asylums that were used as tourist attractions as if he is a circus ringmaster. The whole thing feels dripping with satire and subtext. The next track, Isolation, has these glittering synth lines dancing across the track, completely juxtaposed with Curtis' dark lyrics about feeling so alone in the world and the shame he feels about his epilepsy. From here on out the album just gets darker and more depressed. You can tell from Ian Curtis' haunted lyrics and vocals that he was really on the end of his tether at this point, so close to the end of his life. A Means to an End seethes of betrayal as Curtis sings "I put my trust in you", and Heart and Soul sees him completely hopeless. Twenty Four Hours builds into an intense frenzy, with the last verse in particular feeling very suicidal. The last line of this track is "Gotta find my destiny, before it gets too late.", before the gothic The Eternal begins. This long, slow track feels like Curtis has almost burned himself out, becoming this passive, spectral voice floating in the fog of the instrumentation. The closer, Decades, brings back some colour with the more saturated bass and synths sounding like accordion. leaving the album with some sembilance of hope as it finishes.

While I still prefer Unknown Pleasures for its knife-edge tension and atmosphere, I have really started to come round on this record. It contains some of the bands darkest moments and shows signs of where the group would go as New Order after Curtis' passing. It's not accessible music and it's not meant to be, but is deeply rewarding once you get invested.

Top Tracks: Atrocity Exhibition, Isolation, A Means to an End, Heart and Soul, Twenty Four Hours, The Eternal, Decades

8/10