The Cure’s frontman has been telling XFM that the band’s two shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust were “pretty sensational”… but that his plans for the rest of 2014 are still up in the air.
It was reported earlier this year that fans were likely to get the follow-up to 2008’s 4:13 Dream – a series of songs that were recorded over six years ago but which remain unreleased.
“We’re in a weird kind of predicament,” Smith told XFM’s John Kennedy after coming offstage at the Albert Hall last night (Saturday 29 March). “I’ve finished singing and mixing an album that was made by a band that no longer exists. So I’m trying to be convinced that I should release what is the second half of an album that effectively came out in 2008. It’s a bit of a sore point, to be honest.
“It’s good, it’s really good, but it’s not really new. I just never sang it. I couldn’t be bothered! I didn’t think the words were good enough, but over the last eighteen months, I’ve re-written it. It’s an album that is really different to anything else we’ve done. People who want to hear it will hear it and those that don’t, don’t. They’ll just keep dancing to Close To Me and Love Cats.
“We’re playing in May in America and then I don’t think we’ll play again until late September. So it’ll probably come out in that summer ‘dead air’ period for albums.”
Robert revealed that the album was likely to be released on the Fiction label – which was the original home to The Cure between 1978 and 2000. “It seems like a nice way of squaring the circle,” he says.
“Having said all that… I’ve no idea. I’m very bad at planning long term. I’m at an age where I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I don’t feel such a strong urge to beat people over the head with new stuff.”
The Cure performed over two nights in aid of the charity, which helps teenagers and young adults come to terms with being diagnosed with cancer and the extensive treatment that goes with it. Each show lasted over three hours and featured 40-plus songs, some of which have rarely been performed live.
“I like dipping into the history of the band. I’m so enthralled by digging out songs we’ve never played before. They’re like new songs to me.”
The frontman also paid tribute to Roger Daltrey and his work with Teenage Cancer Trust: “I’m utterly amazed at what he does. The time he puts in, keeping it going. It really is staggering. It’s a totally different vibe to anything else we do, it really is.”
30th March 2014
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THE CURE 