Okay, yes, I admit that whenever a new Cure record comes along, I'm the first one in the queue pestering my editor for a chance to review it. But, having been a fan since 1989, I figure I am pretty well qualified to provide some analysis, right?
About ten years ago, Robert Smith admitted that there is a ‘Cure sound’ and that he was comfortable with his music fitting that description. Critics interpreted that as the creative equivalent of waving the white flag but - despite the glut of post-punk pretenders around today - one thing is for sure: nobody sounds quite like The Cure. So, in that sense, they are still forging their own original path.
4:13 Dream is a distillation of that ‘Cure sound’, which means if you loved The Cure before, you will love this record. If you didn’t, you won’t.
Of course, there are some subtle differences. Following the acrimonious sacking of keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, there are far less synths than usual. And with the re-hiring of axeman Porl Thompson, there is a more guitar-oriented sound. The other slight shift is that this is, by and large, an upbeat album (rumour has it that a batch of ‘darker’ songs have been saved for a separate release next year).
Minor variations aside, 4:13 Dream contains distinct echoes from the past: the swooning romance of opener ‘Underneath the Stars’ wouldn’t have been out of place on Disintegration (yes, it’s that good); ‘Sleep When I’m Dead’ is the long lost brother of ‘The Walk’ and ‘Let’s Go To Bed’; and the tempo and scrawling guitar on ‘It’s Over’ recalls ‘Shiver & Shake’.
This record may ‘kick out the blues’ more than usual, but if you peer between the cracks in the make-up, The Cure’s heart still beats to a bittersweet rhythm.
By Andy McLean. Copyright held by author.
First published in The Brag, Sydney, 2008.
4:13 Dream is available through Suretone.
No comments:
Post a Comment