The Cure plants 'Bloodflowers'
by Brad Horn, Outpost contributor
The first two times Robert Smith informed Cure fans this was the last time the
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Fiction Records 2000 |
Now that the band has just released their 13th LP and started touring playing six small U.S. clubs last month, the band gets ready to launch their European tour opening in Madrid, Spain, March 27. The Cure returns to the U.S. beginning on May 18 in Atlanta, GA. So I suppose I can fill my time, while I wait for them to arrive in San Francisco, June 2, listening to the nine new tracks Smith and Co. arranged for Bloodflowers, over and over.
The band's lineup has changed many times since 1976 when five schoolmates from Crawley, England sat in the garage of lead singer/guitarist Robert Smith putting their music and words on tape for the first time. But their sound, a work of art maturing for over 20 years, with the constant influence of Robert Smith's songwriting and guitar, Simon Gallup's dark sensual and rhythmic beat, created a slot in alternative music the Cure claimed their own.
Bloodflowers is a shift towards a slow, hypnotic and morose sound like their 1982 release "Pornography." Smith's lyrics produce the catchy pop style sound that has topped U.S. and European music charts for 20 years but these nine tracks resemble the more morbid and fleeting sound of their past. The Cure also push their music bending their sound by tweaking their guitars, basses and vocals adding to the hallow sketchy sound already present.
The first two tracks on this album follow the same theme Smith often sings aboutódreams and loss. On"Out of this World", Smith sings,"I realize we only get to stay so long-always have to go back to real lives where we belong.î Gallup's subtle yet resonant injections of light sensual bass is the thin sting Smith's words tiptoe across. Roger O'Donnel-keyboards and Jason Cooper-drums and percussion along with Perry Bamonte-guitar help create the hollow surreal mood Smith sings through. The guitar seems to strangle Smith's whining pleas as"Watching me fall" melts to its end.
The album's fourth track,"Maybe Someday"is the typical Cure hit, one that is overplayed on the radio until listeners recite the lyrics randomly and tap their feet to the catchy melody. But the song is good. It begins with a distorted guitar riff's light whines, slowly introducing Smith and his raw, yet sensual singing. His fatalistic lyrics open the song,"No I won't do it again, I don't want to pretend-if it can't be like before I've got to let it end-I don't want what I was, I had a change of head."
As usual Smith offers a solution, although a bit distorted. He sings,"maybe someday's comeÖagain.î Again Smith reminisces in dream-like fashion.
In"The last day of summerî, the Cure returns to the theme they invented, or at least helped perpetuate, a moment when love was lost or a fantasy never fulfilledóbroken dreams. Smith sings,"it used to be so easy-I never even tried-but the last day of summer never felt so cold.î These words along with the canvas Gallup, O'Donnel, Cooper and Bamonte stretch create a mood of loss and reveal the depths of its finality.
The percussion on"39î creates a slow yet repetitive techno beat broken only by Smith's sporadic lyrics. Smith's guitar echoes in between the beat and his words. The song spirals to an end as Smith sings,"the fire is almost outÖalmost outÖalmost outÖand there's nothing left to burn.î
The album, while not the most arresting sound the Cure has produced is still an innovative contribution to alternative music.
Posted March 6, 2000
Copyright 2000 Nevada Oupost
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