You might think that after being silent for 16 years, The Cure would be in a rush to get things going. Think again. It takes over three minutes of “Alone” — the first song on their new album — before we finally hear Robert Smith's voice. The Cure are back, but definitely on their terms.
The eight-track album “Songs of a Lost World” is lush and deeply orchestral, swelling and powerful, with often several minutes of instruments jamming before any singing.
There are melancholic and mournful lyrics that confront mortality and wonder where time went. “I’m outside in the dark/Wondering/How I got so old,” Smith sings in the last, sprawling, heartbreaking song.
“Songs of a Lost World” is, indeed, not of this world. None of the tunes are under four minutes and the last one saunters past 10. In an era when music is fashioned for microbursts on TikTok, Smith is disinterested. He lets songs take their time, unrushed and able to breath, the beauty of the melodies and instruments leading the way.
The first and last songs are in conversation, with the first stating “This is the end/Of every song we sing/Alone” and the final echoing the thought: “It’s all gone/Left alone with nothing/The end of every song.” There is a finality that fans will find distressful.
The album is The Cure's first since 2008's “4:13 Dream” — although Smith has been making music, including a terrific collaboration with CHVRCHES. Eight new songs doesn't sound like a lot, but they are all rich and satisfying.
One of the highlights is “I Can Never Say Goodbye,” in which a simple, insistent piano noodle is surrounded by fluttering guitar work as Smith comes to terms with his brother's death. The band also goes cinematic with “And Nothing Is Forever,” which has an Aaron Copland bright orchestral vibe, while “Warsong” is a dissonant, spikey downer that concludes “we are born to war.”
“All I Ever Am” is built on some interesting drumming, plinky piano and fuzzy guitars, a bright wave of music with Smith's customary gloomy lyrics: “All I ever am/Is somehow never quite/All I am now.” It is classic The Cure and yet thrillingly not.
We are in an era of ‘80s bands reemerging like cicadas — Tears for Fears, Crowded House, the The, Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, among them — but “Songs of a Lost World” is no attempt to recapture “Friday I’m In Love” or “In Between Days.” It is a huge step forward. It is The Cure’s best album since “Disintegration.” Hopefully, there will be more.
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This album cover image released by Fiction/Capitol Records shows "Songs of a Lost World" by The Cure. (Fiction/Capitol Records via AP)
DABROWKA, Poland (AP) — Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk traveled Saturday to his country's border with the Russian region of Kaliningrad to inspect progress in the construction of military fortifications along the eastern frontier, calling it "an investment in peace."
Tusk’s visit comes a month before Poland is to take over the rotating presidency of the 27-member European Union. Polish officials say their priority is to urge Europeans to beef up defenses at a time of Russian aggression and with change coming soon in Washington. Some European leaders are concerned that the incoming administration of Donald Trump might be less committed to Europe’s defense.
Poland's government and army began building the system dubbed East Shield this year. It will eventually include approximately 800 kilometers (500 miles) along the Polish borders with Russia and Belarus, at a time when Western officials accuse Russia of waging hybrid attacks against the West that include sabotage, the weaponization of migration, disinformation and other hostile measures.
“The better the Polish border is guarded, the more difficult it is to access for those with bad intentions,” Tusk said at a news conference near the village of Dabrowka as he stood in front of concrete anti-tank barriers.
Poland has been at the mercy of aggressive neighbors over the past centuries and has become a leading European voice for security at a time when France and Germany are weakened by internal political problems. Poland aims to spend 4.7% of its gross domestic product on defense next year, making it one of NATO's leaders in defense spending.
Tusk's government estimates that the strategic military project will cost at least 10 billion zlotys ($2.5 billion). Poland’s borders with Russia, Belarus — as well as Ukraine — are the easternmost external borders of both the European Union and NATO.
Tusk said he expected the East Shield to eventually be expanded to protect the small Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
“Everything we are doing here — and we will also be doing this on the border with Belarus and Ukraine — is to deter and discourage a potential aggressor, which is why it is truly an investment in peace," Tusk said. “We will spend billions of zlotys on this, but right now the whole of Europe is observing these investments and our actions with great satisfaction and will support them if necessary.”
He said he wants Poles "to feel safer along the entire length of the eastern border.” Tusk also said the fortifications would include Poland's border with Ukraine, a close ally, but did not elaborate.
Along the frontier, anti-tank barriers known as “hedgehogs” will be integrated with natural barriers like ditches. Tusk said parts of the project are not visible to the naked eye, but it is nonetheless the largest project of its nature in Europe since the end of World War II.
The plans also include the construction of appropriate threat reconnaissance and detection systems, forward bases, logistics hubs, warehouses and the deployment of anti-drone systems, the state news agency PAP reported.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, left, and Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson sign an agreement during Thursday's summit at Harpsund in Flen, Sweden, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP)
