Robert Smith has named one song from each of The Cure’s albums that he thinks would fit in with the sound of new album ‘Songs Of A Lost World’.
The long-awaited new album – which will follow 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream’ – has already been previewed by two singles: ‘Alone’ and ‘A Fragile Thing’. It is set to arrive on November 1, and you can pre-order it here.
Now, in a lengthy new interview with the frontman posted to the band’s new website over the weekend, Smith was asked by BBC Radio DJ Matt Everitt what his top 10 Cure songs of all time were.
“There’s no such thing as my 10 favourite Cure songs. If I answer now I’d change it halfway though,” he quipped, before suggesting that he should pick songs from his past discography that he “would’ve liked to have written for this album.”
Among those listed were the title tracks from both ‘Three Imaginary Boys’ and ‘Faith’ – with the former being described as a song that “still resonates” with him and the latter being named as the first track that he ever felt “really, really proud of”.
The ‘Seventeen Seconds’ track ‘At Night’ was also listed, with Smith saying: “We play that a lot live. It has the same kind of mood as this album, it would fit quite happily on this album”. The same was said for ‘Cold’ from ‘Pornography’ and ‘If Only Tonight We Could Sleep’ from ‘Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me’.
‘Sinking’ from ‘The Head On The Door was named as another choice due to its “doom and gloom” feeling, as was the title track from ‘The Top’, ‘Last Day Of Summer’ from ‘Bloodflowers’ and more.
‘Disintegration’s ‘Untitled’ and ‘Wish’s ‘To Wish Impossible Things’ were also namechecked in the interview as being some of his favourite songs from The Cure’s entire discography.
The full list of songs chosen by Robert Smith during the interview was:
‘Three Imaginary Boys’ (from ‘Three Imaginary Boys’)
‘At Night’ (from ‘Seventeen Seconds’)
‘Faith’ (from ‘Faith’)
‘Cold’ (from ‘Pornography’)
‘The Top’ (from ‘The Top’)
‘Sinking’ (from ‘The Head on the Door’)
‘If Only Tonight We Could Sleep’ (from ‘Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me’)
‘Untitled’ (‘Disintegration’)
‘To Wish Impossible Things’ (from ‘Wish’)
‘Treasure’ (from ‘Wild Mood Swings’)
‘Last Day of Summer’ (from ‘Bloodflowers’)
‘Before Three’ (from ‘The Cure’)
‘The Hungry Ghost’ (from ‘4:13 Dream’)
“That’s it, my entire life flashing before my eyes,” Smith joked after naming the tracks. “I’m going to keel over.” You can watch that whole interview here.
Elsewhere in the interview with Everitt, Smith also revealed that the band have another new album in the works which is “virtually finished”, as well as a third record in the pipeline too. He then surprised fans by sharing his plans for a world tour in 2025, as well as speaking about the band’s upcoming 50th anniversary.
Additionally, Smith said he thought the group would part ways after their headline performance at Hyde Park in 2018, and called dynamic ticket pricing a “scam” that’s “driven by greed”.
One of the more poignant sections of the interview came as the frontman explained the profound coincidence and death behind the cover artwork for ‘Songs Of A Lost World’. This coincided with the singer opening up about how he penned the track ‘I Can Never Say Goodbye’ about his brother’s passing.
What’s more, he also shed light on his relationship with football, revealing that having a curry with the late England and Queens Park Rangers forward Stan Bowles was “the highlight of [his] life”.
In a five-star review of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, NME wrote: “Merciless? Yes, but there’s always enough heart in the darkness and opulence in the sound to hold you and place these songs alongside The Cure’s finest.
“The frontman suggested that another two records may be arriving at some point, but ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ feels sufficient enough for the wait we’ve endured, just for being arguably the most personal album of Smith’s career. Mortality may loom, but there’s colour in the black and flowers on the grave.”
The Cure are set to play a special intimate show at the BBC Radio Theatre in London on October 30 ahead of another small gig at the Troxy in the capital on November 1. Fans will be able to watch the latter date via a free global livestream.