The Cure’s “Dark” Next Album Will Be Followed By A “Really Poppy” One

All of a sudden, the Cure once again have a ton going on. In 2024, the legendary band returned with Songs Of A Lost World, their first album in 16 years, and it fucking ruled. Even as that rollout was happening, Robert Smith was talking about plans for more Cure albums. Last weekend, the Cure headlined the Primavera Sound Festival, returning to the stage after a year-plus break with an amazing setlist full of classics and live rarities, and then they played more live rarities at Porto's North Festival. Also, of course, there's the Olivia Rodrigo connection. The towering pop star already had Cure references on her two most recent singles. At a surprise Primavera set, she and Robert Smith debuted their new duet "what's wrong with me" and then had more nice things to say about each other. Now, Smith would like to describe the next two Cure albums.

Smith already mentioned that the Cure completed a new album last year. In the same BBC 6 Music interview where praised Rodrigo, Smith laid out the general idea for that album and the one that'll follow:

We did the initial recording of Songs Of A Lost World in 2019. We did record three albums' worth of songs. So the second one's done. So that's about to be delivered to Universal. The third one is really, really upbeat. It's really poppy. But it doesn't compare melodically to the stuff that Olivia does. It's more my idea of Cure pop. It's probably 20 BPM slower than anything she does.

What we've been putting out in the last couple of years, it's really rockin', it's bangin'. But the next one, if anything, it's more dismal than Songs Of A Lost World. I mean, "dismal," that's a horrible word to use! But it's quite dark emotionally. It's related to Songs Of A Lost World, but it's a different perspective on things.

Of course, the Cure have the rare and possibly unique ability to be rockin' and poppy and dark all at once, but certain records do lean further into one side than another. I'll take all of it! In the full broadcast, Smiths says how people will think the Cure are making a poppier album because he's been working with Olivia Rodrigo. Will they, though? Also, someone has sent Smith a link to the full Rodrigo album, but he hasn't listened yet because he doesn't like listening to music online. I hope nobody thinks that. Here's the full interview.