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The Cure’s ‘Songs of a Lost World’: All 8 Tracks Ranked


Read our preliminary review and song ranking of The Cure's 'Songs of a Lost World' album.

Smith draws inspiration from William Shakespeare and the 19th century British poet Ernest Dowson for the lyrics on Songs of a Lost World, and the cover photo features a sculpture by the late Slovenian artist Janez Pirnat. A tambourine and drum machine hand claps give “Endsong” a more polyrhythmic churn than the rest of the album, as the track slowly builds up to Smith’s vocal, which arrives more than six minutes into the song. There’s a brutal physicality to the way Jason Cooper, the Cure’s drummer since 1995, pounds on his snare drum and tom-toms on “Alone,” but it’s a stately and graceful song, with a haunting descending triplet figure played on piano and guitar.

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