The Cure's new album will be “on the darker side of the spectrum”

The Cure's Robert Smith (Image credit: Mariano Regidor/Redferns - Getty)

Last year, The Cure revealed they were planning their first album since 2008’s 4:13 Dream.

They’ve spend much of the time since then on tour and recently delivered an epic set as Glastonbury headliners and celebrated a triumphant return to Scotland earlier this month – the first time they’ve played in the country for 27 years.

Now, vocalist and guitarist Robert Smith has spoken with NME and revealed that personal loss has shaped the sound of the record – and he's also revealed the working title.

He says: “It’s very much on the darker side of the spectrum. I lost my mother and my father and my brother recently, and obviously it had an effect on me.

“It’s not relentlessly doom and gloom. It has soundscapes on it, like Disintegration. I was trying to create a big palette – a big wash of sound.”

He adds: “The working title was Live From the Moon, because I was enthralled by the 50th anniversary of the Apollo landing in the summer.

“We had a big moon hanging in the studio and lunar-related stuff lying around. I’ve always been a stargazer.”

The Cure are hoping to complete work on the album later this year.

The band will also release The Cure 40 Live: Curætion 25 + Anniversary on October 18.

Curætion 25: From There To Here / From Here To There was filmed on the final night of the 25th Meltdown festival in 2018 that was curated by Smith – a performance which saw The Cure play a track from each of their studio albums along with new, previously unreleased songs.

Anniversary: 1978-2018 was captured at their British Summer Time show at London’s Hyde Park in 2018 in celebration of The Cure’s 40th anniversary.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.