The Cure has announced that their next single, ‘A Fragile Thing’, will be released soon!
Ahead of the release of their new album ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ next month, The Cure has announced details of their upcoming single, ‘A Fragile Thing’, confirming its release later this week.
The post-punk legends have been gearing up for the release of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’. This album will be their first in 16 years, following 2008’s ‘4:13 Dream’, and has already been previewed by the lead single ‘Alone’.
Yesterday, Robert Smith and the band teased the second single via the group’s fan WhatsApp channel and mailing list. Now, they have provided more details of the upcoming release on social media.
Today on Instagram, the band shared another snippet of the track, revealing that it’ll be available to listen to in full on Wednesday, October 9.
The snippet appears to be from the song’s introduction, and the accompanying visuals resemble those shown previously – depicting a portrait carved into a stone. Check it out below.
Following the release of the lead single ahead of the album’s November 1 release date, pre-order here, Smith has revealed that ‘Alone’ was inspired by the Ernest Dowson poem Dregs and shared several new paintings that are going to auction for charity.
The band showcased ‘Alone’ and other new tracks during their ‘Shows Of A Lost World’ tour in 2022, consisting of 90 dates across 33 countries.
NME attended one of the tour dates at London’s OVO Arena Wembley, where ‘A Fragile Thing’ was also performed early. In their four-star review, NME highlighted the “ticking clock piano rhythms and rolling bass” of ‘A Fragile Thing’, along with its poignant message about the inevitability of the end.
The emotional depth of ‘A Fragile Thing’ may have been influenced by Smith’s personal experiences, including the passing of his mother, father, and brother, which he disclosed in 2019 as a source of some of the new record’s “darkness”.
The band has been discussing ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ for a while, expressing their intention for the record to be “merciless” and to embody the darker aspects of their recent experiences, as shared with NME after their 2019 Glastonbury headline set.
In an interview with NME at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, Smith revealed that the band was simultaneously working on two albums – describing ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ as “relentless doom and gloom” and the second one as more “upbeat”.
Reflecting on the album’s delayed release, Smith expressed regret about discussing it in 2019, stating, “I really shouldn’t have done that.”
Before the LP’s release, the band will be performing two shows for the BBC at the end of this month. Audience members can enter a ballot for tickets to the first show on the BBC’s website until 9pm BST on October 9. Additionally, the band has hinted at another song, ‘Endsong’, but further details about this track are currently unknown.
