The Cure: Songs of a Lost World Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		5.0

The Cure: Songs of a Lost World Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker November 14, 2024

With their first album in over a decade, The Cure (consisting of Robert Smith, Simon Gallup (bass), Reeves Gabrels (guitar), Jason Cooper (drums), and Roger O'Donnell (keyboards)) return with the somber and powerful 'Songs of a Lost World' courtesy of Polydor. The album is comprised of eight new songs which were written, composed, and arranged by frontman Robert Smith, and is the first to feature the work of guitarist Reeves Gabrels who has performed with the band since 2012. The deluxe edition of the release contains two CDs and a Blu-Ray Audio disc with an excellent Dolby Atmos mix as well as a very solid PCM Stereo 2.0 track.

It's been sixteen years since The Cure last released a full-length album of new material, but since 2008's 4:13 Dream the band has hardly been idle. Continuing to tour on both the strength and voluminous depths of their catalog, a recent landmark for the group was their 40th Anniversary concert at London's Hyde Park in front of a crowd of 65,000 fans in July of 2018. While new material had been teased at some of their concerts, it wasn't really until their latest tour entitled "Shows of a Lost World", however, that a long-awaited new album appeared as if it might finally be on the horizon. The tour, which ran from May through December of 2023 saw them playing approximately 30 dates in North and South America. When I had the opportunity to see them, the 29-song setlist featured five songs from the then-forthcoming album, including the album (and show) opener "ALONE", with "ENDSONG" appropriately bookending the first set. It was a rare event where the inclusion of so much yet-to-be- published material which was unknown to many did not dampen or diminish the enthusiasm of the fans over the course of the nearly three-hour performance.

2023's "Shows of a Lost World" tour was also noteworthy for the David and Goliath-like confrontation between Smith and Ticketmaster. At a time when ticket prices for in-demand shows by artists like Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen were skyrocketing due to the company's dynamic pricing model and resellers who would peddle tickets at prices that were marked up many times beyond their face value, Smith took a stand. He rebuked dynamic pricing as a tool motivated purely by greed and, in a move to place tickets in the hands of fans, made tickets nontransferable. He also made the choice to reign in pricing on merchandise, with tour shirts, for example, selling for a mere $25. While some questioned his judgment, these decisions, in part, contributed to what would be the group's highest-grossing tour to date. One can only hope other acts will take note and follow suit.

In the time since their last album, Smith, who has often had a penchant and propensity to pen dark lyrics accompanied by lengthy and intricate arrangements, has experienced a series of deeply personal losses with the deaths of his parents and his brother. He tackles the loss of his brother rather directly in "I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE" as he intones: "As lightning splits the sky apart/ I'm whispering his name/ He has to wake up/ Love's slipping away/ Hear the bells beyond the sea/ It's almost too late". Once as seemingly ageless and eternal as David Bowie, Smith is now 65, and, perhaps driven by these losses, is confronting not only his own mortality but also the future of the band which has been both his identity and his vocation since 1976. It's these sentiments and feelings that pervade the album's first track, "ALONE". Inspired by Ernest Dowson's poem "Dregs", Smith examines his eventual end in a manner and voice consistent with that work. As he sings, "The fire burned out to ash, and the stars grown dim with tears/ Cold and afraid, the ghosts of all that we've been/ We toast with bitter dregs, to our emptiness", we can hear his despair at losing those he's loved, waning passion, and unavoidable and unwanted change due to the passage of time. It's a dense passage in a layered and powerful song.

The themes of death and mortality continue into the next track which is buoyed by music that is almost uplifting and triumphant. Almost. It's an interesting counterpoint to the grim lyrics. As he sings, "I know, I know/ That my world has grown old/ And nothing is forever/...But it really doesn't matter/ If you say we'll be together/ If you promise you'll be with me in the end". Despite his loss and sense of isolation, he's still looking for a connection on a personal level to give meaning to all that has come before and provide hope for the days to come. Knowing that Smith has also put an expiration date on the band, stating recently that he expects to conclude his life with The Cure in five year's time, these words lend the song an extra layer of meaning: gratitude for the fans who have journeyed with him thus far, and the hope that they'll stick around until he and his bandmates play their last note.

The album concludes with "ENDSONG", a track no less dark, mourning, and contemplative than the tracks that it opened with. A sprawling, haunting, and beautiful song, it takes listeners on a ten-minute journey that serves as a fitting capstone for an album whose very title conjures emotions and thoughts of loves, hopes, youth, and dreams all lost to the passage of time. In his deceptively simple lyrics, Smith concisely captures part of the human condition common to everyone as he relays his own thoughts and experiences. The young man is now gone as are some of the hopes and dreams he once had. He's dealing with survivor's guilt and loss due to the literal and figurative deaths of loved ones, leaving him increasingly alone. The song's closing lines also suggest an inevitable feeling of emptiness and depression after the culmination of his acts of creation and songs or albums are released as he laments that he is, "Left alone with nothing at the end of every song". They're words that will stay with the listener long after the music stops.

Upon listening to the album repeatedly over the last week, I'm struck by its musical and thematic cohesion, a sense I've not felt since 1989's Disintegration, which is considered by many to be the group's best work. While we've not had the chance to live with this album for very long, my initial impression is that Songs of a Lost World may just surpass that iconic work. Similar to how that album placed the uptempo, bass-driven, but no less ominous "Fascination Street" in the middle of a dark and brooding set of songs, Songs of a Lost World sees the energetic and muscular "DRONE:NODRONE" adding a welcome shot of adrenaline to Songs of a Lost World's midpoint. Propelled by a catchy and relentless bassline, the track is populated with synth flourishes, plenty of distortion, and is embellished with the album's most impressive and unbridled guitarwork. Coming in at just under five minutes in length, it has the best chance at being radio-friendly, though in a world dominated by streaming this may be less important than it was in Disintegration's day. This isn't to say that it strays from the thematic path of the rest of the songs simply because it stands musically so far apart from the other tracks on the disc as "DRONE:NODRONE" still speaks to disillusionment and the inability to find meaning and happiness in life due to one's own flaws and proclivities. It's as dark, brooding, and introspective as any other. And despite the finality of the album's last song, far from being the end, Songs of a Lost World is purported to be the first of three new albums. Smith and company are, per reports, working to put the finishing touches on the second of the three even as this album hits the market. If this album is a portent of what's to come, it's clear that some of The Cure's best work is still yet to come.

The tracklist for each of the discs is identical. CD 1 contains the "complete" songs with both vocals and instruments, while CD 2 provides an instrumental version of the album. The Blu-ray Audio disc is the highlight here, providing both a Dolby Atmos track as well as a PCM Stereo track.

Track List for CD 1, CD 2, and the Blu-ray Audio disc:

• ALONE

• AND NOTHING IS FOREVER

• A FRAGILE THING

• WARSONG

• DRONE:NODRONE

• I CAN NEVER SAY GOODBYE

• ALL I EVER AM

• ENDSONG

The Cure: Songs of a Lost World Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

There is very little to report on from a visual sense of the Blu-ray Audio disc. Once an audio selection is made or a specific track is chosen, the display simply zooms in and out on the album's cover art. The stark black-and-white image is crisp and free from defects.

The Cure: Songs of a Lost World Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray Audio disc has two available audio options, Dolby Atmos and PCM Stereo 2.0 (96kHz, 24-bit). I spent the bulk of my time with the Dolby Atmos track which is delightfully immersive and sound separation is fantastic. Vocals, drums, and Gallup's virtually omnipresent bass guitar are primarily located in the front, with vocals placed typically front and center. Regardless of what else is happening in each song, Smith's vocals are never less than perfectly prioritized. However, even in the first track, exceptions present themselves, with background vocals, for example, pouring out from the surrounds. Synthesizer flourishes and other percussion elements are generally in the surrounds as well, but again, this is not a hard and fast rule, as depending on the sound and the moment, instruments and voices move freely through the sound field. Fidelity is excellent, with notes sounding crisp and clean when that is the intent and bristling with fuzzy distortion when that's called for. Importantly, Gallup's bass is well supported by the subwoofer, and is appropriately powerful and dominant when called upon to be so. To my ear, and not uncommon for The Cure, Songs of a Lost World sounds more impressive the more the volume is increased - within reason. The PCM Stereo 2.0 is a perfectly enjoyable listen as well, with pleasing depth and clarity, but the Dolby Atmos is the hands-down superior presentation.

The Cure: Songs of a Lost World Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplemental content included on the discs. For images of the packaging, please refer to screenshots 12 through 17.

The Cure: Songs of a Lost World Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

After sixteen years, The Cure have returned with one of the very best albums of their long and storied career. A deep, moving, and haunting rumination on loss and mortality, Songs of a Lost World showcases some of Smith's most emotionally gripping lyrics to date on tracks that chart a group that continues to grow musically while remaining true to their long-established roots and defining sound. In addition to the excellent Dolby Atmos mix on the Blu-ray Audio disc, the deluxe edition affords listeners the chance to simply enjoy the instrumentals without any vocals on a second CD and it is a uniquely enriching experience. It's an expertly crafted album that demands one to unplug from the world and simply actively listen to the album as it unfolds to fully experience both the poignant emotional journey and the musicianship of a group that remains as relevant and important as ever. The Cure's Songs of a Lost World earns my highest recommendation.