2024 has been a year of impressive and standout releases. Artists skyrocketed to fame like Sabrina Carpenter, Chapplle Roan, and Charli XCX, as well as more well known artists like Tyler, the Creator, Billie Eilish, and Beyonce. The grammys were a tight race in which “COWBOY CARTER” took album of the year, but me and many other music lovers found the best music did not appear in the nominations.
The Cure, a staple Goth and post-punk band known for hits like ‘Friday I’m in Love’, ‘Just Like Heaven’, and ‘Boys Dont Cry’ has been around since the early 80s and loved by young and old alike for their swelling music, potent lyrics, and frontman Robert Smith’s iconic voice. After over 15 years since their last album, the Cure released “Songs Of A Lost World” on Nov. 1, 2024, and took the alternative world by storm.
“Songs Of A Lost World,” like the title suggests, has that dark sound synonymous with older Cure albums like “Disintegration” (1989) and “Pornography” (1982), though with a noticeably different, though not unwanted, tone.
Art teacher Eric Ludlow, South’s resident ‘The Cure’ fan had some thoughts on the new album.
“I loved ‘Alone’, the first single was excellent, but then ‘A Fragile Thing’ came out. To be honest the first listen I didn’t like it that much, but then it started really growing on me,” he said.
The first singles definitely showed a lot of how the rest of the album would sound, and many were excited about its similarities to some of the band’s best releases.
“So my favorite album is an album called ‘Disintegration’ from 1989. I think it’s by far their best. So I think ‘Alone’ sounds amazingly like ‘Disintegration.’ –to be honest, I pretty much gave up on The Cure back in about 2004. That’s why I was so excited, because I thought that ‘Alone’ sounded like an unreleased track from ‘Disintegration.’”
The Cure’s “Disintegration” has been compared a lot to “Songs of a Lost World,” a similar slow and dark feel that is felt especially in songs like “Alone”, “Warsong”, and “Endsong”. Though with a new lens, a more mature, and maybe even more existential look at their lives, loves, and career. Even the title can be called back to this late 80’s sound they are known for, and that people like Ludlow miss in their subsequent releases. The thing about this album is that is isn’t afraid to ask the questions that can challenge you, and the short 8-track album, leaves you wondering ‘what’s next?’ in every sense.
