From XFM (you can also listen to the full audio interview there):
Robert Smith: "I don't feel the urge to beat people over the head with new material"
30th March 2014, 15:21
The Cure's frontman has been telling XFM that the band's two shows at London's Royal Albert Hall in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust were "pretty sensational"… but that his plans for the rest of 2014 are still up in the air.
It was reported earlier this year that fans were likely to get the follow-up to 2008's 4:13 Dream - a series of songs that were recorded over six years ago but which remain unreleased.
"We're in a weird kind of predicament," Smith told XFM's John Kennedy after coming offstage at the Albert Hall last night (Saturday 29 March). "I've finished singing and mixing an album that was made by a band that no longer exists. So I'm trying to be convinced that I should release what is the second half of an album that effectively came out in 2008. It's a bit of a sore point, to be honest.
"It's not really new, I just never sang it. I couldn't be bothered. I didn't think the words were good enough, but I've re-written it. We're playing in May in American and then I don't think we'll play again until late September. So it'll probably come out in that summer 'dead air' period for albums."
Robert revealed that the album was likely to be released on the Fiction label - which was the original home to The Cure between 1978 and 2000. "It seems like a nice way of squaring the circle. It's an album that is really different to anything else we've done. People who want to hear it will hear it and those that don't, don't. They'll just keep dancing to Close To Me and Love Cats."
"Having said all that… I've no idea. I'm very bad at planning long term. I'm at an age where I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I don't feel such a strong urge to beat people over the head with new stuff.
The Cure performed over two nights in aid of the charity, which helps teenagers and young adults come to terms with being diagnosed with cancer and the extensive treatment that goes with it. Each show lasted over three hours and featured 40-plus songs, some of which have rarely been performed live.
"I like dipping into the history of the band. I'm so enthralled by digging out songs we've never played before. They're like new songs to me."
The frontman also paid tribute to Roger Daltrey and his work with Teenage Cancer Trust: "I'm utterly amazed at what he does. The time he puts in, keeping it going. It really is staggering. It's a totally different vibe to anything else we do, it really is."
(Thanks @SleazyMartinez)
Notes from the audio interview:
- Says the next Trilogy shows WILL happen, but it might not be this year. Is enjoying playing these big shows with the band. Feels like they are getting better with every show.
- Says the current lineup will be recording this year. Wants to record as a live band, like last album.
- Not in the interviews, but told to John, Chris Parry was in the audience last night. With his son, who is RS's godson. (Thanks Martin)
Articles about this: Express / Music Times / The Guardian / CMU / The 405 / Clash / Contact Music / TV3 / Metro / Gigwise / Slicing Up Eyeballs / Music Feeds / Pitchfork / Consequence of Sound
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Back to Fiction, well at least for that release, excellent:)
ReplyDeleteSigh. Typical. Whenever Robert announces a new album, it's always 5 years before it actually comes out. There is no way we will see 4:14 Scream this year, or next year, or next year...
ReplyDeleteI don't feel bands that have been around for decades who release/play new material to be beating people over the head. Suede, the bunnymen, Mazzy Star, have all put out great albums after their "prime" it keeps them vital. But if Robert just wants to play shows and dig up old tracks that give him that new feeling...good for him I suppose. I hope I'm not alone in hoping for new fresh vital material though.
ReplyDeleteI'm beating myself over the head!
DeleteJust release the bloody thing haha!!
Hmm, yeah all this confusion about new albums is getting a bit tedious now. The best news about this is that the band are talking to Fiction Records about a release. I've been saying they should go back to them for years.
ReplyDeleteSame. Robert should have bought it.
DeleteI will be so glad if this comes about.
His comments confirm, to me at least, that the 'official' press release either wasn't official at all, the message was put out wrong or someone jumped the gun, as it is 100% evident Robert hasn't decided at all.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear they plan to record though, now a new album would please me.
ROBERT, AS YOU ARE READING THIS:: Forget Fiction (which exists in name only), forget cd's which few buy now anyway, just put it on thecure.com! You could upload it TONIGHT!! How fucking punk would that be?! Free of course. The news will be all over the music sites by morning. New listeners will download it, they'll go on to buy the Greatest Hits and other albums, easily offsetting losses from posting an album for free. DONE! Your internal struggle will be over, none of us will complain about any aspect of the album, as it'll be free anyway. We may just love it. Your internal struggle will be over! This is becoming Entreat part two. All this trouble over an album that never really existed. DO IT!
Good Idea.
DeleteAnd Id love to hear an album with Reeves and Roger back in. I will buy a cd or vinyl instantly.
Except Robert has spoken out in the past against bands who give away their music for free...
DeleteI'd love to seem them just put the dark album out there and then focus on recording new songs with Roger and Reeves, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was contractual stuff which prevented them from doing so.
Exactly. Robert will not just give away his work. He's made that very clear. Art has value. But what would be very nice, would be to put it out to benefit one the charities he supports. Donate $10, get the album. Something along those lines.
DeleteAnd then really go after any idiot who dares to post it online to download for free.
Crimson, I think this one was for you. :)
DeletePS
"AS CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY AS I CAN":
I STILL PREFER PHYSICAL RELEASES TO VIRTUAL… gulp!
They just need to put out 4:14 just to get it out there. It seems to be the biggest roadblock creatively they have ever faced. A complete album for a non-existent band. Robert said they won't play any material from it so it kind of seems...pointless.
ReplyDeleteI would say just get it out there (maybe as an online exclusive or charity release), just so the band can jump back into the studio and record something with this line-up.
As long as Porl is okay with a online rekease of 4:14, and I'm assuming Jason and Simon are as well, sounds like the best road to take.
DeleteThe future is so fragile in Robert's hands :)
ReplyDeleteI bet 4:14 will get shelved - and NEW material with the new lineup will be released first. Then a real Cure tour in late 2015. In the meantime we'll get a sprinkling of festival shows as the band works on the new album.
Sounds brilliant to me!!! :)
The Cure has so many great songs I think it is not necessary for them ever to put anything new out. I would be pleased either way.
ReplyDeleteRobert Smith: "I don't feel the urge to beat people over the head with new material"
ReplyDeleteWell Mr. Smith what if I want to be beaten over the head with your new material. That is a beating ill take Happily
JUST DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!! AH FUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI read this and then laughed - then cried :/
ReplyDelete"In a totally characteristic turn of events, however, Smith already is backtracking a bit"
Great news!!! Hey, guys, trust Robert, please. He knows what he's doing. I guess it's all about timing. I remember an interview years ago, upon the release of WMS 1996, he mentioned about stuff that would have been his solo material, he'd wished it would be released "posthumously". I bet a lot of it came into Bloodflowers and B sides from these sessions. Just remember how many songs start as something and end up as something completely different. It's all like a huge business plan...But a great business plan, I'd say. Just cherish the fact that Robert is alive and well and is still having plans for the future...Cheers!!!
ReplyDelete'm so sorry, my name is Vesselin, I'm from Bulgaria, living in US, I don't know why, my comments come as "Unknown", but it is me. Sorry, for this.
DeleteAfter actually listening to the interview. It sounds like he will put out the 2008 material and record with the new lineup. 4:14 For the fans, and hopefully they will like it. But seems to feel the general public could care less?
ReplyDeleteThat solo album raises its head again! I have a French magazine interview from 1992 where he says it is recorded but that it was "too sad" to release :D
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad The Guardian brought up something that has been bugging me since I first read this interview.
ReplyDeleteSo 4:13 was always supposed to be a double album from the start. Robert said he fought with Universal about it. Complained about it. Has always said it was incomplete as a single album
But now we learn much of that album had not even had the vocals recorded because he couldn't be bothered due to the poor quality of the lyrics he wrote for some of the songs.
So Robert fought to release a double album full of songs he was so unhappy with, that he didn't even bother to record vocals for many of them until he could re-write them years later? Does that make any kind of sense to anyone?
In hindsight now, this makes Universal's decision to limit it to a single album much more understandable. If it was full of songs that even Robert wasn't thrilled about, why would they want to release that?
I find the whole 4:13/4:14 odyssey to be quite odd. Then again, it could just be me.
And let me state, I still love 4:13. Because it IS so odd. And I'm really looking forward to 4:14. But some of this just doesn't make sense.
Thank you, Robert, for clearing this up! Makes more sense now.
DeleteMy understanding was that Universal thought it was suicide from the get go. So who knows how far into the project it was when that battle was started and the decision was made to just put out a single album?
ReplyDeleteIf the album was done as a whole, I'm thinking 4.13 was a culmination of the two that had lyrics and everything else down and the rest put on hold due to that argument.
I would relate to the fact when Robert says those songs may have dated/ lost their relevance from those sessions in '08 and am glad he's gone back to tweak them with the current lineup rather than throw it out there and not be happy. Whether incomplete/rubbish lyrics had anything to do with it is another story as everything was supposedly "done and ready to release" as early as the Sydney Reflections period..
I would say in hindsight, Robert has been putting it off all this time to get the lineup right in order to be confident enough to finish off the work.
But totally agree, Craig. Didn't quite get it either until a little light was shed on it in the Xfm interview..
Well i totally agree Craig. Doesnt' make any sense..probably the songs are not that good. the problem with The Cure, at least for the last 3-4 records is always the same, few very good songs and a lot of average or poor songs (alt.end, only one, taking off, us or them, etc etc) that recalls too much old things.. I can see why Robert is so unconfortable with that..maybe it's because he realizes that (for the moment) there is nothing so important to share with the world..the cure have made so many great stuff, maybe it's better for him to wait and work on something stronger.
ReplyDeleteThe negative spin being put on this interview is ridiculous! All of these dumb articles making it seem like Robert is so unenthusiastic about 4:14, it's a "sore point", and other nonsense. I posted this on Twitter, but want to post them here as well.
ReplyDeleteI have to imagine Robert Smith has to be pretty surprised & disappointed by the spin being put on his Xfm interview in these articles. As Martin said, go & actually listen to Robert's interview, he says 4:14 is really good! Listen to his tone in the interview. He's very upbeat. Sounds very happy. Doesn't sound down about it at all.
His point about the "new" album being a "sore point" is to do with the rest of the band, that the "new" Cure album isn't by the current lineup. He wants to record a very different album with the current lineup. That's the conflict. NOT that he thinks 4:14 is bad. He's very upbeat about it!
But you go ahead and keep spinning it that Robert hates 4:14, and thinks it's terrible, or whatever gets people to click your links.
End of rant. Onwards. :)
The more I think about it Craig, the more I come to the conclusion that there is no pleasing some people.
DeleteThere were a couple of negative reviews in the UK press about the RAH gigs complaning about the lack of hits played - during the main set at least. But if they play the hits, the fans on here moan that the set was too commercial.
The 4:14 thing does all seem a bit odd, but it is being written off by people before they have even heard it!
I went to the RAH on Saturday and it was fantastic. The band sound as good, if not better than ever. I never thought I would hear 2Late or Harold and Joe played live, (well not until Saturday morning when I looked on CoF to see what they played Friday!) but now I have, and I am grateful for that. I heard many songs played on Saturday that I had heard them play live before, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment of hearing them again.
I don't get what the problem is.
What's the alternative? That they quit. Is that what people really want them to do?
Onwards indeed Craig, and upwards as well :)
Well, he said that the lyrics were bad..and i dont know, he seems not so sure about this "record"..too much unsure.
DeleteNo. Listen to the interview. He said he never finished it because the wasn't happy with his lyrics. So he went back and wrote new ones, and finished recording them. He said it's very good.
DeleteThe only reason he's unsure about releasing it is due to the timing of it. Conflicted about releasing something that was recorded so long ago with a version of the band that no longer exists. And some of the current band wanting to focus on creating something new with this band.
Nowhere in the interview does he seem unsure of the quality of the songs as they currently exist. He was unhappy with his words before he wrote new ones.
Smudge, I'm only talking about these articles that came out today that are reporting on the XFM interview. They seem to be trying to create this narrative of, "Hey fans, don't get to excited about that new Cure album, even Robert thinks it kind sucks". It's stupid. That's a very negative spin being put on the story. It's really annoying and I feel bad for Robert.
DeleteThough in fairness, it's mostly the idiotic Gigwise article that pissed me off.
DeleteYeah I knew you were just talking about those articles Craig, just thought I would use it to make a wider point about the seeming growing negativity there is about The Cure on here. Like I said, what's the alternative - just to stop.
DeleteHadn't read the gigwise one till just now! It's just nonsense, can't blame Robert for keeping quiet really and not saying much about whatever future plans the band!
Did you see the one from The 405? Headline - Robert Smith Doesn't Like The Cure's New Album. Seriously? Where in the hell does he say that? He says just the opposite!
DeleteLike I said, I'm annoyed. :)
Just had a look, again its a massive misinterpretation of what Robert said for a cheap headline.
DeleteThe Cure don't seem to get that much positive press over here in the UK either at present. Perhaps it frustrates us fans more than it does Robert, judging by his comments in the xfm interview he's accepted that the only people who'll buy the 4:14 album will be Cure fans and the rest of the world will be indfifferent!
The SoundCloud got pulled?
ReplyDeleteYes. Go to the XFM website to listen to it. They wanted the traffic to go to them, not Soundcloud.
DeleteEvening standard review, looks like a copy of the guardian one to me http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/music/the-cure-royal-albert-hall--music-review-9225404.html?origin=internalSearch
ReplyDeleteThank you! Will add it to the list under the show topic.
DeleteOk a couple of points to make ;
ReplyDelete1. As Crimson pointed out above...this interview is the clearest evidence yet that, the "press release" in january was a hoax..or at least unofficial. Why on earth would he issue a press release about news of some stuff that is possibly happening (something he's never done before). He doesn't update the fucking website for Gods sake. The press release was in my opinion written and published by someone at Teenage Cancer Trust, who wanted to promote the gigs. they asked him for some "news" to use in a press release about the gigs...but instead it got leaked to the general press by someone. Since it was Teenage cancer trust, he couldn't really get pissed off with them and demand it retracted. I was laughed out of the building in Jan for suggesting it was a dodgy press release...think differently now ?
2. The way I understood the discussion in the interview about the "new" album is that he has 4:13 scream finished but is unsure wheter to release it, because that band doesnt exist and its a sore point for the current lineup....However he said the current lineup is recording, so that album will get released when its done. Its this new album I believe he's referring to when he says "its like nothing weve ever done before. Its really good" Correct me if I am wrong
The "nothing we've ever done before" is the current stuff. "It's really good" is about 4:14.
Deletebut then you`re contradicting yourself Craig..because the "nothing we've ever done before" comment is in the 3.47 to 4.00 section mentioned below...which is according to you about 4:14
Deleteagree however that the "its really good" comment is about 4:14..my mistake
DeleteHow am I contradicting myself? Those are 2 different things being talked about. It's very clear to me. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
DeleteAh, no, I was not saying that down there. I thought it was a continuation of what you were saying up here.
DeleteYeah, that is about current Cure.
Deleted that bit, as it WAS confusing. Sorry.
DeleteListen from 3.47 to 4.00. in the interview.
ReplyDeleteVesselin: OK, here's my interpretation.
ReplyDelete1) Re the change of the lyrics - well, can't you just accept the idea, that the original lyrics of these songs ( on hypothetical Scream 4:14) might have been veery personal? Remember "The Boy I Never Knew" ? Robert might not feel very good about being soo personal, or not feel even that way at all now, compared to 2008 ....Hence, need to change the lyrics...
2) Business side of the whole things: Imagine he's not sure if he's got one shot from Fiction or whoever might be considered to back up the projects. Remember he'd been probing the ideas of releasing a DVD (LatAm), now this new ( old) CD - Scream 4:14, (a bit of exorcism :)), and possible release of the new material that they've been playing with behind close doors - all of the band are creative people, so I suppose they'd rather see some of "their" New, up to date stuff released, like ...now, instead of 5 years down the line....Just imagine Robert doesn't have the full control of the situation and is not sure what would the company bet their money on...And please, stop bitching about Robert's plans! We're all here, because of his plans for the last 30 + years, right :_) Cheers...
I think he could just release a sort of Dream 13 deluxe with the first disc (the one we already known) re-produced (cos the production was really bad) and the second disc as a bonus. in limited number of copies..something special for "HARD fans" only..
ReplyDeleteI don't get all negative fuzz about this interview. What the heck people? And where do some of you see a confirmation in it that the press release earlier was a hoax??? The complete opposite is the case, as Robert pretty much confirms everything about it.
ReplyDelete- New trilogy shows? Yes, Robert says. Just don't know excately when... 2015 probably he says, late 2014 said the press release.
- 4:14 Scream will be released. Yes, Robert says. Even gives a hint of what company might be releasing it... and a possible release date with the summer months.
- Confirms they will be playing in September. So the Italy rumours might be confirmed right as well. What shows that will be? No new trilogy shows. Maybe short promotion gigs for 4:14 Scream? Might be... only time they played 4:13 Dream Live was in Italy. That might be closing the circle.
- Robert confirms he finnished the singing and MIXING of the album.
- Said he has re-written the lyrics... as he did before. Where's the news here??? Only that he says the old ones where not good enough. So what???
Even if Robert would tell me that 4:14 is the worst sh*t they've even done, I still would want to hear it. As 2004 he said the self-titled was the best they've ever done. Even said, who doesn't like that record was no Cure fan. That record was the worst they ever did, with some few execptions (Your god is fear, This Morning, Going Nowhere). So I'm sure 4:14 is amazing. And maybe that's even Robert's problem with it. Releasing an album 6 years after it was originally intended to be, in a way it was never planned... with the band from back then not even existing anymore. And then fans might be really thrilled by that album? How odd that must feel to Roger and Reeves? I can see Robert's point here. He'll still get it out.... AND even gives more news to be happy about with saying that current line-up will record as well THIS YEAR.
SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM PEOPLE???