The Cure (headed by Robert Smith) recently released Songs Of A Lost World on November, 1st of this year, a large gap from their previous studio album in 2008. I went into this review having heard good things, but I was left disappointed. The 8-song album is 49 minutes long and I struggled to discern meaningful differences between many of the songs.
Most songs on the album start with some sort of melody that seems to repeat for at least 40% of the song before any singing is introduced. The main issue is that these compositions are boring and don’t evoke any emotion, which disinterests the listener. I could see this absence of emotion and slow boring pace as intentional due to the overall themes of aging and death – the listeners hear about Robert Smith’s fear that no one will care when he passes on and is forgotten. The overall “flaws” in the album could be an attempt at telling the story using the listener, which in theory I love this idea, but the music just wasn’t there to back it up.
The first three songs: “Alone,” “And Nothing Is Forever,” and “A Fragile Thing” blend, and not through artful transitions or similar rhythms, but through following the same boring formula as the last.
“Warsong” at its core is about fighting in a relationship. It starts with a slow build-up, to what you assume is going to lead into a faster, more rock-oriented song, but the buildup is the whole song. It also follows the same formula of about half a song with its disinteresting melody. It could be a purposeful choice to make the song represent the lead-up to another fight, but it was still boring for a song about a more aggressive topic.
“Drone:Nodrone” was probably the best song. It was arguably a simpler song, but it felt fleshed out, unlike the formula the other songs had followed. It was once again repetitive, like the other songs on the album. Since at this point, I was 5 songs in, the fact I found every song similar created a problem in which all the songs lacked any deeper meaning. Unlike the other songs, this song had a hook and it engaged me. It sounded quite like a later Nine Inch Nails album, which is good in regards to me being a fan.
The last three songs: “I Can Never Say Goodbye,” “All I Ever Am,” and “Endsong” blended together, similar to the first half of the album. I was not a fan of these songs, but “I Can Never Say Goodbye” took the boring formula and made the most of it, granted that it was only somewhat better.
“All I Ever Am” had a drive behind it that I appreciated. It was still boring and lacked layers, but it was better and swayed further from the recurring formula. It sort of had a hook and for the most part, had my attention.
“Endsong” was like the adopted child of the 8-song family. Under any other circumstances, I would have liked it. After listening to around 40 minutes of this slow formulaic album I was soured at the fact that a slow thoughtful song was the end of this album.
Overall I found this album to be a waste of time as every song seemed to follow a formula that makes each song boring on its own. I would not recommend listening unless you are serious about music or are already a Cure fan. It left me feeling as if I missed something, I’m unsure if this was because it’s bad or if I truly wasn’t listening. I’d probably give it a 2 out of 5 stars as some songs held my attention while the majority bored me.
