When was the last time a band entered a creative renaissance 45 years in? It’s a nigh unheard-of feat, albeit one performed by The Cure with the release of today’s loooooooong-awaited album, Songs Of A Lost World. The praise for it has been universal, with many deeming the eight-song slab of solemnity to be the goth rockers’ best since 1989 magnum opus Disintegration.
With mastermind Robert Smith teasing two followup records to come, it seems The Cure are dusting themselves off at a time when most musicians pack it in. And, if album number 14 is indeed the doorway to a new era, the sextet rush in with passion at the accompanying release show.
Tickets to tonight’s extravaganza at the 3,000-capacity Troxy in London sold out almost instantly (to the surprise of no one), but those ardent few quick enough to snag entry are rewarded for their tenacity. Across three hours and two sets, The Cure will celebrate their comeback material, a classic album, and the almost half-century of genre-splicing anthems which propelled them to icon status. No stone goes unturned.
When Smith and his cohorts arrive, they bathe London in the sound of Songs… in full. The universally moody collection – with themes of ageing, decaying relationships and the death of its chief songwriter’s brother – proves immersive fast. The shimmering guitars and keys stand steadfastly against Simon Gallup’s driving bass. At 49 minutes, it’s one of The Cure’s slimmer releases, but any more time would risk the record (and by extension this first set) overstaying its welcome. After all, its melancholy already spans from the ambient Alone to the percussive and forceful Drone: Nodrone. Nothing needs to be added to make it complete.
With the new material celebrated in its entirety, the old swiftly follows. Plainsong and Pictures Of You usher in an hour of nonstop favourites, predominantly stretching from 1985 to 1994. Lovesong and Burn are the most powerful one-two punch of the set, unironic sweetness immediately contrasted by synths and vocals so melancholic they soundtracked goth classic The Crow. Everything in between those tonal poles hits the capacity crowd perfectly: where In Between Days incites excited screams and singalongs, Disintegration gets 3,000 moodily swaying in no time.
Then, an unforeseen mini-set sneaks in before the encore, five songs from 1980’s depressive Seventeen Seconds emerging from the fog. Is it an early celebration of a 45th anniversary, or a way to bridge this grim classic with the similar tones of Songs…? Either way, the surprise is welcome, as At Night lifts everybody in the rafters to their feet. Through the addictive A Forest, the resurrected Secrets and the rest, none of them sit back down.
The euphoria crescendos after The Cure return from the darkness side-stage one last time, running through their poppiest triumphs to the constant sound of lung-bursting delight. Lullaby, The Walk, Friday I’m In Love, and so on… all of them prove their decades-long, generation-straddling appeal with hooks strong enough to snatch a shark.
Boys Don’t Cry – the almighty hit from the album which started it all, Three Imaginary Boys – feels perfectly placed as it ends the evening. For almost double the length of a feature film, Smith et al have pulled their attendees backwards in time, from Songs… to Seventeen… in a loose reverse chronology. Finishing the night where their career began doesn’t just save their biggest song for last; it brings a pleasing circularity to what has been an earnest, emotional summary.
The Cure aren’t calling it a day – at least if their leader is to be believed about what’s on the horizon. But if they were, this would have been the perfect bow out: an inventive reminder of both their gloomiest and happiest highlights, played to the loyalest of loyalists, just up the road from where the band formed in West Sussex. Alone opened the night with the lyric, “This is the end of every song that we sing,” but by the time everything’s wrapped, it’s impossible not to feel overjoyed, knowing more of this type of magnificence is still to come.
The Cure setlist: The Troxy, London – November 1, 2024
Alone
And Nothing Is Forever
A Fragile Thing
Warsong (live debut)
Drone: Nodrone (live debut)
I Can Never Say Goodbye
All I Ever Am (live debut)
Endsong
Plainsong
Pictures Of You
High
Lovesong
Burn
Fascination Street
A Night Like This
Push
In Between Days
Just Like Heaven
From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
Disintegration
At Night
M
Secrets (first time since 2011)
Play For Today
A Forest
Encore:
Lullaby
The Walk
Friday I’m In Love
Close To Me
Why Can’t I Be You?
Boys Don’t Cry
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