Eddie Vedder wrapped a short run of dates with his solo band Earthlings last night (Oct. 7) at Las Vegas’ Dolby Live at Park MGM, and saved a special treat for the encore: he and his mates’ debut live cover of The Cure’s classic “Just Like Heaven.” Beforehand, Vedder told the audience about the COVID-era dance parties he and his wife Jill would routinely stage in their garage, complete with disco lights and smoke machines. “I will always have great memories of those incredible dance parties,” he said. “The kids would come in and check on us and kind of get embarrassed and have to leave, but we had a fuckin’ blast. This is one of the ones that we would play. We’ve never played it before — we only played it about an hour ago right before we came out, but we’re gonna try it now.” [embedded co...
At the BandLab NME Awards on Wednesday night, Robert Smith unveiled the title of the long-awaited, upcoming The Cure album. The Cure frontman spoke to NME backstage at the show and said that one of two forthcoming The Cure records is set to be released “real very soon.” “So I’ve been working on two Cure albums, and one of them is finished,” Smith told NME. “Unfortunately, it’s the second one that’s finished. [On the other] I’ve got to do four vocals, and there are 10 songs on each album. We’re mixing next month on April 1, so I’ve got three weeks left.” He continued: “I know what it’s called – it’s called Songs of A Lost World. It’s got artwork, it’s got a running order, it’s almost done! They’re so slow because of vinyl, but it might come in September. I’d rather it just came out. I ...
Simon Gallup has announced he’s left the Cure. The bassist shared the news in a succinct Facebook post that read: “With a slightly heavy heart I am no longer a member of the Cure ! Good luck to them all …” The band has yet to address his departure; however, Stereogum pointed out a tweet by current keyboardist Roger O’Donnell that alludes to Gallup leaving while also poking fun of former keyboardist/drummer Lol Tolhurst. “A friend just told me they saw Lol in the Guitar Centre buying a bass???????” he wrote. A friend just told me they saw Lol in the Guitar Centre buying a bass??????? — Roger O’Donnell (@RogerODonnellX) August 14, 2021 Gallup technically isn’t a founding member of the Cure, but he joined the band in its infancy — after the release of its 1979 debut album Three Imaginar...
Christmas means that it’s time for comedy theater Second City’s fundraiser for families in need. Hosted online this year, the 24-hour event featured a solo set by Robert Smith of The Cure. The goth rocker performed songs from Faith to celebrate its forthcoming 40th anniversary. In black and white, Smith shared renditions of “The Holy Hour,” “The Funeral Party” and ended with “The Drowning Man.” The somber nature of these tracks truly represented the quarantine-Christmas experience. Other performers for the fundraiser included Kim Gordon, Glen Hansard, Sleaford Mods, Jim O’Rourke, Bill Callahan, and Jeff Tweedy. Smith has been busy, most recently remixing “Teenager” by the Deftones for their Black Stallion LP. “It’s amazing to hear Robert rework one of our songs an...
The Deftones’ beloved White Pony LP is being remixed by a strong group of artists and will transform into Black Stallion next week. The latest remix comes from none other than The Cure’s Robert Smith, who lent his flair to the Deftones track “Teenager.” “It’s amazing to hear Robert rework one of our songs and sneak his voice in there,” Deftones’ Chino Moreno said in an interview with NME. “If you’d have told me that when I was 15 years old, I would have lost my fucking mind and not believed a word you were saying. It was a dream.” Black Stallion also boasts new remixes by Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, which you can check out here, Squarepusher, Purity Ring, Phantogram and others. The 11-song album of reimagined White Pony songs drops on Dec. 11. Check out Smith’...
Industrial icons Stabbing Westward treated fans to Hallowed Hymns today (Oct. 30), a surprise covers EP that includes takes on The Cure’s “Burn,” Ministry’s “(Every Day Is) Halloween” and Echo & The Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon.” “2020 has been a shit year. We were supposed to release our new album and tour the U.S. to support it. But clearly, that’s not happening,” singer Christopher Hall said in a statement. “We know Halloween is different this year with no parties and no Trick or Treating so we wanted to give fans something special …. something that will help tide you over until we can release some new music.” A special “Devil’s Night Mix” version of Stabbing Westward’s “Burn” cover round out the surprise release. Listen to that below. [embedded content] The band is curren...
The Who’s Roger Daltrey is tasked each year with putting on the Teenage Cancer Trust’s annual concert series at London’s Royal Albert Hall. But when the pandemic halted organizers’ plans for a major gig supporting the U.K. organization, Daltrey recruited some friends for a creative workaround. The Teenage Cancer Trust Unseen will take place Oct. 8 to 18, streaming unseen concert footage from the Who, Paul McCartney, the Cure, Ed Sheeran, Noel Gallagher, Them Crooked Vultures, Muse and more. The sets span several years, with McCartney’s Oct. 11 set recorded back in 2012. The material will streaming for free on the trust’s recently launched YouTube channel, but organizers are still urging fans to donate. “I know things are really tight for everyone at the moment, our whol...
The Cure’s Robert Smith revealed way back in February that a new album from the band was on the way, the lineup’s first in a dozen years and today, he shared a few more details about it. Joining Damon Albarn on BBC6 Music about the new Gorillaz collaboration, Smith said that being trapped inside due to COVID restrictions made him very productive, describing one of the final Cure cuts he’d written as “10 minutes of intense doom and gloom.” Smith also added that Albarn got a hold of him to work on the Gorillaz’s “Strange Timez” while he was finishing off the Cure track. He also gave more insight to what he said earlier this year: that the Cure would release their first album in 12 years. “Our whole idea for this year was really finishing off the album we started last year, me finis...
After taking a bit of a summer break, Gorillaz have just released their latest offering from the Song Machine project. “Strange Timez” brings The Cure’s Robert Smith into the Gorillaz growing list of collaborators that include Tony Allen, Schoolboy Q, Octavian, Georgia, Joy Division’s Peter Hook, Fatoumata Diawara and Octavian. Meanwhile, the video for the new track is literally out of this world as Murdoc Niccals, Noodle, Russel Hobbs and 2-D take us around space while Smith takes the form of a satellite. The group also shared that they’ll be releasing a new album, Song Machine: Season One – Strange Timez, as well. The collection, which is out on Oct. 23, will feature new collaborations with the likes of St. Vincent, Beck, Elton John, EarthGang, and GoldLink. Gorillaz kick...