"Songs Of A Lost World" out this November 1st

[word_on_a_wing]

I didn't anticipate I would like this album so much.  It's already getting up there in terms of being one of my favourite The Cure albums.  Some songs resonate with me in a similar way to the second half of the Disintegration album.
I'm really enjoying the textures of each song.. it creates such a sense of depth and spaciousness.

Thankfully I have the week off work (coincidental but perfect timing) so have been completely absorbing myself in this album.  The weather in Melbourne has been beautiful (spring) and I've really enjoyed long walks in beautiful nature while listening to this album.

Some further reflections...
While I have connected most deeply with the final 3 songs on the album, today I really connected more with And Nothing Is Forever, first and foremost the beautiful music, but then the lyrics.  To me, Alone feels quite bleak, but when paired with And Nothing Is Forever it makes much more sense to me.  I've also noticed this theme repeats at the end of the album "Left ALONE with NOTHING". ...and let's not forget: Nothing is forever. 
Yes, I may be reading into this too personally and incorrectly but I hear him sing about how this life is one of feeling alone however we are able to merge into the Nothingness (which is everything) from which we came, and this is our destination when this life comes to an end. This Nothingness is forever / infinite.  I recall once I had a dream where we were all illuminated marbles rolling around alone (and sometimes beside each other for periods of time) however ultimately we all flow into the same beautiful vast space.  The lyrics are reminding me of this dream.
However I then listen again to the interview and at around 20mins in he summarises the meaning as being very different to what I'm hearing, and more about his experience of life as a 10 year old, and this now being like a lost world:   https://youtu.be/bLFA1BlTeUE?si=U4aAAVYhaGUs2dN5
His explanations about individual songs are also more straightforward than what I tend to interpret.
The conclusion = how fascinating it is that people can have such varied experiences and interpretations + I believe I may read into things too much!

[Ulrich]

Hi all ...it's been a while.
How great there's a new album!

Hey, good to hear from you again & thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I intentionally didn't listen to any of these new songs prior to the album being released, dodging the live versions over the last year or so. I wanted to hear the songs within the entirety of the album + good audio (rather than a phone recording).

Good idea. Of course I was at the concert almost 2 years ago and HAD to listen to the new songs. But since the end of the USA tour in '23, I avoided live versions on youtube as well.
(That is, until the stream came along on Friday of course!)

I'm gonna write more about it, but not right now.

Just heard the album out-sold all others in the UK top ten:

The Cure's 'Songs Of A Lost World' has been outselling the rest of the current UK top 10 combined in its opening weekend of release.

https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-cures-songs-of-a-lost-world-is-outselling-the-rest-of-the-uk-top-10-combined-3809484

[pyota]

I'm still waiting for mine to show up! Its driving me crazy. 

[Ulrich]

I'm still waiting for mine to show up!

That can be frustrating of course. My first attempt at buying it on Saturday was unsuccessful (my guess is because Friday was All Saints Day and no lorries were driving here, so the shop didn't have them)!

However this week I remembered the shop I bought "4:13 Dream" in, so I went there and they had both vinyl and CD. (Might buy the vinyl too, later.)

Now if I were a bad boy, I'd tell you:
Between the two cornerstones "Alone" and "Endsong" are a lot "fillers". 

But NO, wait wait wait, I'm not a bad boy!

Of course Robert chose wisely the startsong and endsong of the album. Inbetween those are more good songs. Distortion or not, "All I Ever Am" is one of my faves (so far).

"Drone:Nodrone" is the one which does not do much for me (so far, but I know some Cure songs need the right moment and then they suddenly fit...)!

Robert's vocals are awesome, his voice is still in fine form at the age of 65. 

@word_on_a_wing You asked about live vs. studio:
I think I can hear the songs on the album are more "produced" than the live versions, but still pretty close to them! I guess it was a good idea to perform some of them before the final mixing of the album. This often helps a band or musician to know what works for a song...

[word_on_a_wing]

"Drone:Nodrone" is the one which does not do much for me (so far, but I know some Cure songs need the right moment and then they suddenly fit...)!

It is a song that I found initially most enjoyable ("happ happ happiness!") however after i absorbed the album over more listens it now doesn't compare to some of the other tracks in my opinion. I also feel this way with Warsong. I think they are two good tracks, however they feel more like individual stand-alone tracks rather than part of the overall atmosphere of the album.
...however on the other hand if we consider Disintegration and the different atmospheres created in that album, perhaps shifts are good. E.g. to go from Lovesong to Untitled on the same album.  While I could happily listen on repeat to an album of tracks similar to Untitled I recognise others may not.  Changing it up does likely contribute to appealing to everyone.

Ulrich, yes it's amazing how close the live performance sounds to the album ...crazy good!  I feel like the live performance really showed what great musicians they all are.  I think seeing it performed live would be amazing.
The Sydney Opera House would be a perfect venue for this beautiful music 🙏💕

[tzare]

Time to be back! been a long time, so i hope everyone is ok.
And of course enjoying the album as most Cure fans.
I received my deluxe CD edition yesterday, but been listening on Apple Music and Spotify (sounds much better on Apple Music btw).
I also discovered that it was available to purchase online (FLAC or MP3) for a very low price in the US SOALW store, so bought without any problems or the need of a VPN despite living in Barcelona. It also has 5 bonus live tracks that sound amazing
My thoughts so far:
Great album, only a little 'short', but sometimes less is better (and if Robert doesn't lie to us, we will get more songs in a relatively short period of time).
It also feels very coherent and cohesive, if that makes sense, from start to finish, songs are really well chosen, all are different but also feel intimately connected.
I usually have different tastes than most hardcore Cure fans,so let's see how it compares to others: my preferred tracks are:
S tier: Alone, And nothing is forever, I can never say goodbye, Endsong
AAA tier: Warsong, Drone:noDrone, A fragile thing
AA tier: All I ever am
And no songs i dislike or 'average', which is great.

One of their top five albums for sure.

[MeltingMan]

I'm gonna write more about it, but not right now.

Me too. The album has to speak for itself, the music on it. Everything that falls under marketing is (hopefully) a temporary side effect. Robert knows that too. The press tries to outdo each other with praise... as I said, it is already a "masterpiece". But whether it will achieve cult status or even be The Cure's last studio album will have to be seen in the next sixteen years.   I can already hear "mind your own business". I will do that as well.

[Ulrich]

Robert has said nicely "thank you" for being #1:

https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-cure-songs-of-a-lost-world-number-1-album/

The Cure's Songs Of A Lost World becomes band's first Number 1 album in 32 years

The band's 14th studio LP outsells the rest of the Top 5 combined to reach the summit

Reacting to the news, The Cure's Robert Smith says:

"It is enormously uplifting, genuinely heartwarming to experience such a wonderful reaction to the release of the new Cure album.

"To everyone who has bought it, listened to it, loved it, believed in us over the years - THANK YOU!"

[word_on_a_wing]

It's such a beautiful album and I'm so glad it's getting the positive feedback it deserves 👏

[Ulrich]

It is #1 in Germany too.
Anyone got news about other countries (Australia, USA...)?

[word_on_a_wing]

Is #5 in Australia. Pretty good. I think the announcement of an Australian tour could help the situation   

In all honesty, it has been a while since an Australian tour. It was 2016 when they last toured several cities, and 2019 for the Disintegration shows in Sydney (which I can't believe is over 5 years ago).  I know I can't complain as it was such a blessing to have the Disintegration shows on our shores, but given they visited Europe and the US during 2022-2024 I am really hoping they are considering Australia as the next stop for any upcoming tour

[Rietan]

number one in Switzerland too, in company of Helene Fischer....

https://hitparade.ch/charts/alben

[Ulrich]

number one in Switzerland too, in company of Helene Fischer....

Same as in the German charts.
I guess in (m)any charts the company will be "strange". 

[tzare]

Very good results despite sales aren't that meaningful nowadays with most people listening via streaming services. Could they reach 500k sales? Far from the 80s/90s numbers.
I did my part buying the Deluxe CD version and the online FLAC version with those 5 extra live tracks.

And after 10 days, yeah, this album is really amongst the best.

[Ulrich]

Very good results despite sales aren't that meaningful nowadays with most people listening via streaming services.

I do not know about other countries, but the official German charts are made by looking into all sales, downloads and streaming all together!

https://www.offiziellecharts.de/info/faq

Die Offiziellen Deutschen Charts sind die einzig repräsentativen und vom Bundesverband Musikindustrie e.V. lizenzierten Musik-Charts für Deutschland. Sie bilden das ab, was Deutschland hört, streamt, downloaded und kauft. Ermittelt werden sie von GfK Entertainment.