Released on Friday, the album received widespread acclaim, with reviewers calling it the best since 1989’s ‘Disintegration’
This past Friday marked the long-awaited release of The Cure‘s Songs of a Lost World after a 16-year interval, and the verdict is in — it was worth the wait. Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield dubbed it “the Cure’s best since Disintegration,” calling it a “vividly propulsive space-rock goth elegy, eight songs in fifty minutes, kicking with a full-blooded band attack.” Fans seem to agree, as the album has rocketed past other recent releases to take the top spot on Amazon’s best-selling CDs and Vinyl charts.
Songs Of A Lost World (CD)
In addition to taking the top spot on Amazon’s CD and Vinyl charts, the CD version of Songs of a Lost World is a bestseller at Barnes & Noble.
Songs of a Lost World (Vinyl)
In addition to the CD release, The Cure dropped a vinyl version of the album. To reduce the use of virgin plastic, the album is pressed on BioVinyl vinyl, a type of bio-based PVC made from organic materials like recycled cooking oil. You can also find the vinyl at Barnes & Noble and independent retailers like Rough Trade.
Songs of A Lost World (3 CD)
The album was also released as a 3-disc CD featuring the standard album, an instrumental version, and a Blu-Ray audio version.
Unlike the conventional album rollout, where a tour follows the album’s release, The Cure kicked off its Shows of a Lost World Tour in May 2023, concluding in December of that year while Robert Smith continued working on the album.
To mark the long-awaited release, the band performed Songs of a Lost World on Friday in London, livestreaming the marathon 3-hour, 31-song set. The set comprised the entirety of the new album and fan favorites, and the band closed the encore with hits like “Friday I’m in Love,” “Close to Me,” and “Boys Don’t Cry.”
Although the band has not announced new dates in support of the album, frontman Robert Smith pushed against predatory pricing on The Cure’s last tour, advocating for face-value fan-to-fan ticket exchanges and taking measures to keep ticket prices fair.
Sheffield’s review concluded, “Lost World might be one of the most agonizingly delayed rock albums in history… But from now on, it’s just the new Cure album, topping expectations to the point where it recalibrates their whole story. He’s mourning for his lost world. But this is one of the most beguiling music worlds he’s ever created — the sound of Robert Smith raging against the darkness and refusing to quit.”
