The Cure‘s comeback is imminent. On Sept. 26, the band will release the new song “Alone,” marking their first original single release since 2008. The record will appear on their upcoming album Songs of a Lost World.
The arrival of “Alone” will be accompanied by additional details about the album, which the Cure began teasing over the summer. In August, Robert Smith shared a cryptic post that read: “And then…” A few weeks later, content on the band’s official website was wiped and replaced with an email signup link.
The Cure also brought longtime fans into the fold to help tease the release. Postcards featuring the album title and apparent release date were mailed out to fans in the U.K. The cards read “Songs of a Lost World” and a set of Roman numerals that translate to November 1, 2024.
In hindsight, the Cure have been setting up their comeback for years while on the Shows of a Lost World tour. They first performed “Alone” live nearly two years ago in at Arēna Rīga in Latvia. They opened each show of the tour with the unreleased record and gradually introduced new songs onto the setlist. “A Fragile Thing,” “Endsong,” “I Can Never Say Goodbye,” “And Nothing Is Forever,” and “Another Happy Birthday,” were also performed live but have yet to be released.
Songs of a Lost World has been taking shape for the better part of the past half-decade, as Smith revealed to Rolling Stone in 2019. At the time, the tentative album title was Live From the Moon, which drew inspiration from the musician’s memories around the moon landing. “In a funny way, I was trying to achieve nostalgia for a world that never happened. And I think that’s still what I want the world to be,” Smith said. “That’s why I’m struggling a little bit with the lyrics. Musically, I think we’ve done it. It’s just lyrically, I need to make sure that it’s working.”
He added: “We seem to keep rewriting songs. I don’t think I’ve quite nailed some of them. I’ve sung most of it, but I think it has to be the best thing. I can’t do the whole, “That’ll do.” I’ve never felt that with a Cure album, but with this one in particular, I think we’ve waited more than 10 years, and I can’t just think, ‘Oh, that’ll do.’”