Songs of a Lost World＜Bio Vinyl＞

Songs of a Lost World, the 14th studio album from the Cure, might just be unprecedented. The statistical circumstances surrounding the album are unique: this is the first completely new material from an indescribably influential band in 16 years, arriving about five years after it was initially scheduled, and after the group had been regularly playing some of the songs at their consistently popular concerts for years. Its not the typical release schedule, even for a legacy act, but somewhere in the history of rock music there might be an exact analog. What really makes Songs of a Lost World atypical is how great it is. The eight songs that make up the album aspire to and often reach the same slow-moving grandeur of the Cures high-water mark album, 1989s Disintegration, only without any of the playful pop that snuck into that record and propelled the bands biggest singles. Themes of loss, isolation, impermanence, and mortality are all translated into Robert Smiths signature melodic melancholia, all of it delivered in deep, drawn-out, sweeping movements. The nearly seven-minute opener "Alone" sets the pace, with dense swirls of synths, simple, pounding drums, and the kind of lengthy building intro that the band perfected on some of their best songs. Its a solid three minutes before Smith starts singing, but the arrangement has forgotten about time by that point, creating an atmosphere thats hard not to get lost in. This atmosphere sustains for the albums duration. There are some spikes in energy like the tormented grooving of "Drone Nodrone" or the cinematic drive of "All I Ever Am," but even these outbursts dont stray too far from the concentrated whole that the album presents. The general path SoaLW takes is consistent throughout, whether manifesting as the creaky pump organ chords that begin the aching "Warsong" or the bittersweet collision of auburn-hued string arrangements and crunchy alt-rock guitars on "And Nothing Is Forever." Closer "Endsong" takes its time hammering the albums overarching feeling home with a ten-minute runtime that echoes peak moments of slow, sad beauty from the groups decorated past. This is the first Cure album written and arranged solely by Smith since 1985s The Head on the Door, and theres a similar color to the solitude he explores here. Its a win against slim odds that the band would make a solid, listenable album almost 50 years in, and with almost 20 of those passing since their last new set of songs. Songs of a Lost World isnt just an album of unlikely listenability, though. Its a new chapter late in the game so unexpectedly powerful that its nothing short of stunning, and just as unexpectedly, it ranks among the bands best work. ~ Fred Thomas

すでに名作『Wish』(92年)以来の全英1位を獲得している、『4:13 Dream』(2008年)から実に16年ぶりとなったニュー・アルバム。その間には元ティン・マシーンのリーヴス・ガブレルス(ギター)が加入するなど布陣に変化はあったものの、ロバート・スミスの美意識(と歌声!)は貫かれている。重厚な幕開けの"Alone"から雰囲気は終始ダーク。壮麗な"And Nothing Is Forever"や亡くなった兄に捧げた"I Can Never Say Goodbye"、10分超の大曲"Endsong"に至るまで、自身の死やキャリアの終わらせ方を強く意識した側面が際立っている。内省的な濃密さの奥へと否応なく引き込まれる一枚だ。
bounce (C)香椎恵