Credit: The Cure

Robert Smith reveals his “least favourite album” by The Cure

Wed 16 October 2024 17:04, UK

As The Cure ready the release of their new album, Songs of a Lost World, frontman Robert Smith has reflected on their past material, and named the one LP by the band that he likes the least.

The upcoming record by The Cure is set to be launched on November 1st, marking their first full-length studio release in 16 years. During this time, Smith has always maintained that new material by The Cure would have to have to stand up alongside their previous work, and stated they would only release more music if he believed it would enhance their legacy.

Songs of a Lost World was first mentioned by Smith in 2019, and a large portion of the album was recorded during that time. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and The Cure’s latest world tour, it has taken until now for the album to be ready for release.

The forthcoming record deals with Smith’s grief of losing important family members, as trailed by the two singles, ‘Alone’ and ‘A Fragile Thing’. Now, in a new conversation with BBC 6 Music presenter Matt Everitt recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Smith named each song from every Cure album that is the most closely aligned with Songs of a Lost World.

The list of tracks mentioned by Smith provides an insight into his thoughts on their back catalogue. Among the notable mentions is ‘To Wish Impossible Things’ from their 1992 album, Wish. “That’s another one of my favourite Cure songs. We never play that, I don’t know why, but that would fit happily – or unhappily -on this album,” Smith said of the song.

The frontman also shouted out ‘Untitled’ from Disintegration, remarking: “That is one of my favourite Cure songs. I like that I didn’t title it, I know it’s really stupid but I had the courage to not bother thinking of a title.”

Another favourite for Smith is ‘The Last Day of Summer’ from Bloodflowers. However, as Smith admitted, he’s not always felt that way towards the composition, stating, “That’s become a favourite. I was never quite sure about it as a song, but I think it is a good song.”

Nevertheless, 2004’s self-titled The Cure is an album which Smith still feels strongly against. After naming ‘Before Three’ as his favourite from the record, the singer said of the LP as a whole, “The Cure album is probably my least favourite album that we’ve made. I don’t like some of it, it’s the only album that I don’t think works. Before Three is a good song, that would probably work.”

The future of The Cure

Thankfully, Smith feels more positively toward Songs of a Lost World, which The Cure are set to release on November 1st. On the album release date, the legendary group is also scheduled to play an intimate show at The Troxy in London, with tickets exclusively available to those who have pre-ordered the record.

Additionally, the singer is already looking further ahead to the future. In the same conversation at Abbey Road, he revealed: “This is jumping about, but we recorded about 25 or 26 songs in 2019. We recorded three albums in 2019; that’s always been the problem. I’ve tried to get three albums completed. After waiting this long, I was like, ‘Let’s just throw out Cure albums every few months!’ Everything with hindsight, you think, ‘Really? I could have done that a lot better’.”

Elaborating on his plan to release a further two albums following their upcoming LP, Smith said: “It will work out this time. Having finished this one, the second one is virtually finished as well. The third one is a bit more difficult because, well if we get that far… Talking about the third album, you see what I mean? I just can’t help myself.”