The Cure debut new songs

[Ryan]

I just know that their new album will be their greatest since Disintegration. I have to have it. I can’t wait any longer.

It is taking a really, really long time. Especially after performing so many of the new songs live. Like pulling teeth.

 

[Ryan]

This was reported back in November. First time I've seen it -

 

[Gregor Samsa]

This was reported back in November. First time I've seen it -

Looks absolutely amazing. Although, I’m sad It Can Never Be the Same isn’t on the album.

 

[Mayfly]

Looks absolutely amazing. Although, I’m sad It Can Never Be the Same isn’t on the album.

Sounds like a good title for a Morrissey song.

 

[Ryan]

Sounds like a good title for a Morrissey song.

Literally one of the best things they've ever done, super emotional.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Literally one of the best things they've ever done, super emotional.

I wonder why they left it out. Maybe it felt too “old”.

 

[Thewlis]

Has it really been 15 years?

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Has it really been 15 years?

In October, yes.

 

[Thewlis]

Incredible. I wonder why they never released another album since 2008. Maybe because it flopped?

 

[Eldritch]

Incredible. I wonder why they never released another album since 2008. Maybe because it flopped?

The older he gets, the more precious Robert Smith gets about releasing new music. Let's not forget that they recorded 33 songs in 2008: the album plus four b-sides made up for 17 songs, and then the rest were supposed to be a follow-up 4: 14 Nightmare in 2009, which never turned up. Plus there is an unreleased Smith solo album from the nineties too -- and now The Cure have recorded 2--3 new albums according to the reports.

 

[Mimi Ramone]

I've read in an interview somewhere, that he indeed gets much more critical about songs the more the release date and the writing of the songs are apart. So the longer we wait the more it is possible that some songs are written but will never come out and that would be really sad. The new songs they played live during the last tour were so so good.

 

[Ryan]

Incredible. I wonder why they never released another album since 2008. Maybe because it flopped?

Because Robert is very indecisive.

Of the 2004 self-titled album, Robert said the producer, Ross Robinson, originally had the running order as a much darker record, including the (demo only available; live only available) heart-wrenching song "A Boy I Never Knew". In an interview Robert says "I ended up going with the running order I preferred" - leaving off a great deal of the darker material that the rest of the band liked.

Another reason he didn't want to release the song was because, to quote RS, "I had f***ing tears running down my face as I was singing it in the studio". If you ask me, that's a reason to include it! Then he went ahead and played it on the gigs leading up to the release of 4:13 Dream but didn't put it on the album. Very poor decision making there.

4:13 Dream was meant to be a double album; one CD of happy songs and one CD of dark songs. Didn't happen. I think that was also the original plan with Wish, but he let the label talk him out of it on both occasions.

He mostly recently said one album is finished, one is almost finished (a less "dark" album featuring poppy songs), and an "album of noise" that could end up being a solo thing he's been talking about for decades.

There was also meant to be a third bonus disc of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me released online with more interesting stuff on it than the bonus disc on the deluxe edition (such as "Eyemou") but that hasn't materialised either.

As for what 4:13 Dream could have been (from 2014):

AS CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY AS I CAN…

“Having said all that, I have no idea… I really don’t. I’m really bad at planning long-term stuff.”*

I HAVE LITTLE DESIRE TO BE DRAWN
AND LITTLE CONVICTION IT REALLY MATTERS THAT MUCH…
BUT ON THE BACK OF THE WEARY AND EVER MORE NEGATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF MY SHORT POST SATURDAY RAH SHOW CHAT WITH XFM
I WILL TRY TO EXPLAIN A VERY SIMPLE CHAIN OF EVENTS AS CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY AS I CAN, GIVEN A NUMBER OF GENUINE CONSTRAINTS…

LIKE NOT WANTING TO NAME TOO MANY NAMES OR POINT TOO MANY FINGERS

IN 2007 THE CURE (ME, SIMON, JASON AND PORL THOMPSON) REHEARSED AND RECORDED 33 SONGS WITH THE INTENTION OF CREATING A DOUBLE CD ALBUM CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY 2 HOURS OF MUSIC:

13 SONGS ON EACH DISC, MOST WITH WORDS AND VOCALS, BUT A FEW WITH WORDS AND NO VOCALS (IE. ‘INSTRUMENTALS WITH WORDS’…!) – THE RUNNING ORDER WAS FLUID, AS I WAS CONSTANTLY REARRANGING THE ORDER IN WHICH THE 33 A4 ‘MASTER SHEETS’ WERE STUCK ON THE WALL OF THE CONTROL ROOM… CHOICE CHANGED DEPENDING ON THE PROGRESS OF THE RECORDING…

WE PLANNED TO RELEASE 4 OF THE ALBUM SONGS AS ‘SINGLES’, PLUS 4 ‘B-SIDES’…
LEAVING A ‘MARGIN OF ERROR’ (SHOULD WE NEED IT) OF 3 SONGS…

HOWEVER, TOWARDS THE END OF THE PROJECT, I RAN OUT OF THE ENERGY AND CONVICTION I NEEDED TO RESIST A GROWING COMMERCIAL (AND TEMPORAL) PRESSURE FROM INDIVIDUALS AND RELEASE STRUCTURES I WAS OBLIGED TO WORK WITH, AND (TO MY DISCREDIT?!!) ABANDONED THE DOUBLE ALBUM/INSTRUMENTALS PLAN…

INSTEAD I COMPILED ‘4:13 DREAM’ (13 SONGS WITH WORDS AND VOCALS), AND IT WAS THIS SINGLE CD ALBUM, ALONG WITH THE 4 OTHER ‘B-SIDE’ SONGS ACCOMPANYING THE 4 (REMIXED) SINGLES, THAT WAS RELEASED IN 2008

COMPILING A SINGLE CD ALBUM REQUIRED A DIFFERENT APPROACH (FOR ONE THING THERE WAS NO LONGER THE TIME TO ‘SPREAD OUT’ AND CONNECT THE DIFFERENT MOODS AS I HAD ORIGINALLY INTENDED… )
AND AS A CONSEQUENCE A NUMBER OF (MY FAVOURITE!) SLOWER SONGS AND INSTRUMENTAL PIECES WERE LEFT UNFINISHED AND UNRELEASED

“AS CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY AS I CAN”: I THINK ‘4:13 DREAM’ IS AN EXCELLENT CURE ALBUM, AND ALL THE B-SIDES ARE FAB… BUT THE CULMINATION OF THE PROJECT WASNT QUITE WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN, AS 16 OF THE ORIGINAL 33 SONGS WERE ‘LEFT ON THE SHELF’…

IN 2009 PORL THOMPSON LEFT THE BAND
AND THAT VERSION OF THE CURE WAS OVER
FOR GOOD
AND LIFE CARRIED ON…
IN 2010 THE CURE HAD ‘A YEAR AWAY’
IN 2011 ROGER O’DONNELL REJOINED THE BAND AND THE CURE PLAYED AROUND THE WORLD…
AND ENOUGH TIME HAD PASSED…
AND I GOT THE URGE TO REVISIT OUR ‘LIVE IN PARIS 2008′ FILM TO SEE HOW FAR WE HAD GOT WITH IT…
AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS LISTENED TO THE UNRELEASED ‘4:13 DREAM’ SESSION SONGS…
AND I FOUND I STILL LIKED THEM… ALBEIT I WASN’T SURE ABOUT SOME OF THE LYRICS…

…SO I STARTED WRITING NEW WORDS FOR THE INSTRUMENTAL SONGS
AND I STARTED SINGING THEM
AND RESINGING OTHERS
AND I BEGAN THINKING OF WAYS TO FINISH OFF THE PROJECT TO MY SATISFACTION

AND LIFE CARRIED ON…

IN 2012 REEVES GABRELS JOINED THE BAND AND THE CURE PLAYED AROUND THE WORLD…
AND (MAINLY BECAUSE OF THIS ‘PLAYING AROUND THE WORLD’ AND ‘LIFE CARRYING ON’ STUFF) OTHER UNFINISHED PROJECTS STARTED MOUNTING UP…
IN 2013 THE CURE CONTINUED PLAYING SHOWS AROUND THE WORLD…
AND THE PERFORMANCES GOT BETTER AND BETTER…
AND LIFE…

IN 2014 THE CURE CONTINUE(D) PLAYING SHOWS AROUND THE WORLD…

AND MY PLAN THIS SUNNY SPRING MONDAY AT THE END OF MARCH IS TO GET TO THE POINT IN THE NEXT MONTH OR THREE WHERE WE CAN RELEASE:

1)
A LTD EDITION ‘4:26 DREAM’ DOUBLE CD ALBUM OF 26 SONGS (ALL REMIXED) – IE. ‘THE ORIGINAL 4:13 DREAM SESSIONS CONCEPT ALBUM’ (INCLUDING THE ‘INSTRUMENTALS WITH WORDS’) – OF WHICH 10 TRACKS OR MORE WILL BE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED…

2)
A LTD EDITION ‘4:14 SCREAM’ SINGLE CD ALBUM OF 14 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED SONGS – ALBEIT SOME OF THEM MAY ALSO BE ON ‘4:26 DREAM’… BUT THESE ‘4:14 SCREAM’ VERSIONS WILL ALL HAVE WORDS AND VOCALS…

“AS CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY AS I CAN”?!!:
ITS MAYBE STILL A BIT TRICKY TO EXPLAIN WITHOUT TITLES AND LYRICS AND…
MUSIC!!!
BUT…
OF THE ORIGINAL 33 SONGS RECORDED IN 2008
32 WILL GET RELEASED
(THERE’S ALWAYS ONE…!)
AND I WILL BE OVERCOME WITH AN IRRESISTIBLE URGE** TO FINISH SOME (ALL?!!) OF THE OTHER OUTSTANDING CURE PROJECTS
LIKE ‘LIVE IN PARIS 2008′ AND ‘REFLECTIONS 2011′ AND ‘SUMMERCURE 2012′ AND ‘LATAM 2013′ (AND ‘RAH TCT 2014’?!!)

…AND CREATE SOME NEW NEW MUSIC WITH THIS CURRENT CURE LINEUP…

“Down, down, deeper and down… “
HA!
AND ONWARDS
RSX

PS
“AS CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY AS I CAN”:
I STILL PREFER PHYSICAL RELEASES TO VIRTUAL… gulp!

PPS
*”Having said all that, I have no idea… I really don’t. I’m really bad at planning long-term stuff.” – ME, AT THE WEEKEND…
**”TRUE ART IS CHARACTERISED BY AN IRRESISTIBLE URGE IN THE CREATIVE ARTIST”… EINSTEIN, SOMETIME EARLIER!!

 

[Ryan]

Another reason he didn't want to release the song was because, to quote RS, "I had f***ing tears running down my face as I was singing it in the studio". If you ask me, that's a reason to include it! Then he went ahead and played it on the gigs leading up to the release of 4:13 Dream but didn't put it on the album. Very poor decision making there.

@Thewlis

From August 2004 UNCUT magazine:

"Out of the 20 songs that we did for this record, we could have released a 10 track album which would have been the heaviest and most disturbing thing we'd ever made" [...] "There's one song we've done, called 'A Boy I Never Knew' which isn't on the album, and that's Ross' favourite song that we did. It's also the saddest. I couldn't put it on the record. It was just too much. It's got me crying on it, for God's sake."

 

[Ryan]

I wonder why they left it out. Maybe it felt too “old”.

That track list is just a rumour at this stage. Also so many songs ending in the word "song" make it sounds a bit fake. Although Robert does have a tendency for those titles (Plainsong, Sirensong, Endsong), I doubt he'd put that many on one record.

We may get a studio version of It Can Never Be The Same. A live version is also on the The Cure: Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park London release ("From There To Here / From Here To There" section).

 

[Gregor Samsa]

While we tirelessly wait for Songs of a Lost World, why not think about some of their best work of yesteryear. The following are probably my top 10 desert island Cure songs.

1. Plainsong
2. One More Time
3. The Same Deep Water As You
4. Faith
5. To Wish Impossible Things
6. A Strange Day
7. Bloodflowers
8. Cold
9. Disintegration
10. 2 Late

 

[Ryan]

While we tirelessly wait for Songs of a Lost World, why not think about some of their best work of yesteryear. The following are probably my top 10 desert island Cure songs.

1. Plainsong
2. One More Time
3. The Same Deep Water As You
4. Faith
5. To Wish Impossible Things
6. A Strange Day
7. Bloodflowers
8. Cold
9. Disintegration
10. 2 Late

1. Just One Kiss (Extended Mix) - my favourite Cure song, never changes
2. Bare
3. Where The Birds Always Sing
4. Anniversary
5. Secrets
6. Faith
7. Siamese Twins
8. Play
9. Fear of Ghosts
10. Homesick

 

[Gregor Samsa]

1. Just One Kiss (Extended Mix) - my favourite Cure song, never changes
2. Bare
3. Where The Birds Always Sing
4. Anniversary
5. Secrets
6. Faith
7. Siamese Twins
8. Play
9. Fear of Ghosts
10. Homesick

Our lists only have one song in common, but I still love each and every one of your picks.

 

[Thewlis]

More of an album person myself, so I’ll start with that:

1. Disintegration
2. Pornography
3. The Head on the Door
4. Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
5. Faith
(Join the Dots)
6. Seventeen Seconds
7. Wish
8. The Top
9. Three Imaginary Boys
10. Japanese Whispers

Tbh I don’t think they have really mattered to me since Wish, although Bloodflowers had a few songs that I liked. Looking forward to the new album though.

 

[nicky wire's legs]

While we tirelessly wait for Songs of a Lost World, why not think about some of their best work of yesteryear. The following are probably my top 10 desert island Cure songs.

1. Plainsong
2. One More Time
3. The Same Deep Water As You
4. Faith
5. To Wish Impossible Things
6. A Strange Day
7. Bloodflowers
8. Cold
9. Disintegration
10. 2 Late

ooh im going to do this too!

1. sugar girl
2. untitled
3. cut here
4. pictures of you
5. just like heaven
6. a letter to elise
7. the love cats
8. where the birds always sing
9. the walk
10. a chain of flowers

 

[Gregor Samsa]

ooh im going to do this too!

1. sugar girl
2. untitled
3. cut here
4. pictures of you
5. just like heaven
6. a letter to elise
7. the love cats
8. where the birds always sing
9. the walk
10. a chain of flowers

Me and Ryan are all doom, gloom and sorrow, so it’s refreshing to see some pop songs here. And if you only knew how much I love Sugar Girl. It reminds me of a time, place and person gone so very long ago. I’ve listened to it more than I care to reveal. Absolutely exquisite and inconsolably melancholic pop song, that.

But I’m surprised not to find 2 Late on your list! Should fit you perfectly.