Robert Smith has opened up about new music from The Cure, revealing the next two albums are “done”, while a third “poppy” record is also being worked on.
The icons are working on their first new music since 2024’s ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, which was quietly announced on their official bio last October. The 13-track album is one of three releases on the way, something that was expanded on in an interview Smith gave to BBC 6 Music yesterday (June 8).
“We did record three albums’ worth of songs, so the second one is done, so that’s about to be delivered to Universal,” the frontman said.
Speaking on the album set for release soon, he said he felt people might perceive it as being influenced by his recent collaboration with Olivia Rodrigo, which debuted at last weekend’s Primavera Sound.
“The third one is weird, actually,” he explained. “Now I’ve been doing this, people think, ‘Ah, it’s because he’s been working with Olivia, because the third one is actually really upbeat. It’s really poppy, but it doesn’t compare melodically to the stuff that Olivia does, but it’s my idea of Cure Pop. It’s probably 20 BPM slower than anything she does, but [compared to] what we’ve done in last couple of years, it’s really rocking. It’s banging.”
However, the upcoming LP will not be as upbeat. “The next one, if anything, it’s more dismal than ‘Songs Of A Lost World’,” he said. “I mean dismal is a horrible word to use, but it’s quite dark, it’s related to ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, but it’s a different perspective on things.”
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Last October, band member Roger O’Donnell shared with NME that Smith handles much of the album process. “You’d have to ask [Smith] about that,” he said when asked about new music.
“I didn’t know that ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ was finished until he sent the songs to us to learn for the Troxy show! I don’t know what’s going on. I know that Jason [Cooper] did a lot of drum tracks in about April, and there was talk of us getting together to play but I haven’t heard much lately. I think Robert is in one of his very deep creative modes, because he’s pretty quiet at the moment.”
The Cure recently played a headline set at Primavera Sound that saw them air rarities and classics as they kick off 2026 European tour. The ‘Love Song’ B-side ‘2 Late’ was played live for the first time since 2019.
In a five-star review of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, NME concluded: “Merciless? Yes, but there’s always enough heart in the darkness and opulence in the sound to hold you and place these songs alongside The Cure’s finest. The frontman suggested that another two records may be arriving at some point, but ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ feels sufficient enough for the wait we’ve endured, just for being arguably the most personal album of Smith’s career. Mortality may loom, but there’s colour in the black and flowers on the grave.”