The Cure has announced that later this month they will release an album recording of the gig played on the release day of their 14th album, ‘Songs of a Lost World’.
The album, titled ‘Songs of a Live World Troxy London MMXXIV’, will be released on vinyl, CD, and cassette on 13 December by Fiction/Polydor. It can be purchased here.
They went on to confirm that all band royalties from the live release will be donated to War Child – a charity who specialise in aiding and protecting children caught in conflict and war zones – The Cure has previously worked with War Child UK through the Record Store Day campaign which brings together independent record stores, record labels, and artists once a year in hopes of raising money and awareness for the charity. This year they raised £42k in aid of children in conflict zones.
The recorded performance that has made it to vinyl took place on the album’s release date, 1 November, at London’s Troxy. While 3,000 people attended in person, the event was also streamed live on YouTube, reaching an even wider audience. The stream, which remains available online, has since garnered over 2.2 million views. This level of interest reflects not only the band’s enduring popularity but also their ability to attract a new generation of fans, many of whom were not even born when their debut album was released in 1979.
At the gig, the six-piece lineup – Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboard), Simon Gallup (bass), Jason Cooper (drums), Roger O’Donnell (keyboard), Reeves Gabrels (guitar), and Perry Bamonte (guitar, bass, keyboard) – performed ‘Songs of a Lost World’ for the first time in its entirety, interspersed with old favourites and big hits. A highlight of the evening was the celebration of the 45th anniversary of their second album, ‘Seventeen Seconds.’ However, the live album will include only tracks from ‘Songs of a Lost World.’
The performance has been widely praised, in part due to the strength of the album itself. ‘Songs of a Lost World’ is The Cure’s first album in 16 years and was highly anticipated. Both The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis and Neil McCormick from The Telegraph awarded it five stars, with McCormick describing it as the band’s best work since their debut.
The Troxy performance appears to be their last live show before the accumulative world tour rumoured to be starting in late 2025.
The album secured The Cure their first UK Number One in 32 years, outselling artists such as Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler, The Creator, Ed Sheeran, and Charli XCX.
Frontman, Robert Smith, expressed his gratitude, saying: “It is enormously uplifting, genuinely heartwarming to experience such a wonderful reaction to the release of the new Cure album. To everyone who has bought it, listened to it, loved it, believed in us over the years – thank you!”
The album has gone on to top five US Billboard Charts, building even further on the success that the band has found at home.
Fans of The Cure can look forward to 2025, with Smith revealing that another album is virtually finished, and a third expected to follow soon after.
