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(Aka what it sounds like when the Cure do the Cure)
Sixteen years after their last album, Robert Smith & Co. have returned on their own (admittedly, glacial) terms. They sound regal, exhausted, and deliciously slow, wrestling with mortality and doubt in a way that's perfectly suited to the Cure (and reminds me more than just a little of David Bowie's final work, "Blackstar," which focused on the same endgame subjects in a similarly "top of their game" sort of way right at the end of his life). I first heard the track linked here, "And Nothing Is Forever," on last year's Cure tour of the U.S. (which I wrote about for Magnet here) and it reminds me that -- unlike, say, the Stones -- Smith has never felt the need to flex for the sake of proving his youthful virility. If anything, the Cure was always adult-before-their-time, sounding world-weary and sick of it all long before goth made that a core brand attribute. I love this album more than anything the band has done since 1989's "Disintegration," which saw Smith retreating from fame and popularity through the copious use of hallucinogens, which greatly influenced the sound of that record. What is the feeling of pending death if not the world's most powerful psychotropic drug? The Cure have been and shall always be one of THE bands for me. "There is none blacker," as the joke goes. All hail the dark lords of pop, as magisterial and mysterious as ever. š
Nov 1, 2024
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Nov 1, 2024
Canāt hear the final notes of Plainsong without anticipating the opening notes of Pictures of You. Itās like that all the way through.
Jun 12, 2024
the way this song slowly builds and then hits you over and over again like a wave with its bridge is utterly phenomenal. one of the few songs with a runtime over 5 minutes that really earns it
this song feels like running into an old friend while walking through a secluded forest in the fall and then catching up over a cup of black coffee
Jan 9, 2025
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May 22, 2025
Hey tyler hopefully this doesnāt violate some PI.FYI golden rule
But after nearly two years of writing, editing and arguing, my book about the EP is coming out in May and can be preordered here:
https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/
The book is about the origins, history and cultural impact of the EP since these little objects first started coming out in the 50s.
Over 50 of my music biz friends then helped me shape the list and review the top 200 ever released, according to us (ha).
For those of you who are into this kind of geekery/snobbery, I canāt wait to hear what you think. A labor of love, as all books are! ā¤ļø
Mar 27, 2024
āSongs Of a Lost Worldā coming to a goth listening station near you Nov 1 š¤
The fr FW Me Friday the 13th the world was looking for
Sep 14, 2024