What do you do when you’ve already delivered one of the most acclaimed albums of your career and still have a mountain of songs left in the vault? If you’re The Cure‘s Robert Smith, you don’t slow down. You keep creating.
Smith revealed that the band’s next chapter is already well underway, with not one but three albums taking shape following 2024’s acclaimed Songs Of A Lost World.
Speaking with BBC Radio 6 Music, Smith confirmed that The Cure recorded enough material for three separate releases.
“We did record three albums’ worth of songs, so the second one is done, so that’s about to be delivered to Universal,” he said.
While fans may be wondering if his recent appearance with Olivia Rodrigo at Primavera Sound had any influence on the new material, Smith says the timing is purely coincidental.
“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.”
Smith added that even his version of pop still moves at a Cure-like pace.
“It’s probably 20 BPM slower than anything she does, but compared to what we’ve done in the last couple of years, it’s really rocking. It’s banging.”
Before fans get to hear that brighter side of The Cure, they’ll first be getting something considerably darker.
“The next one, if anything, it’s more dismal than ‘Songs Of A Lost World’,” Smith 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.”
That revelation lines up with comments made last year by Cure keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, who admitted that even members of the band aren’t always aware of Smith’s creative plans.
“You’d have to ask Robert about that,” O’Donnell told NME 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.”
He added that drummer Jason Cooper had recorded extensive drum tracks and that Smith appeared to be fully immersed in one of his trademark creative stretches.
“I think Robert is in one of his very deep creative modes, because he’s pretty quiet at the moment.”
The Cure recently launched their 2026 European tour with a headline appearance at Primavera Sound, mixing classics with rarities. Among the surprises was a performance of 2 Late, which returned to the setlist for the first time since 2019.
For a band that spent years carefully crafting Songs Of A Lost World, the idea that two more albums are essentially complete and a third is taking shape feels almost surreal. One record is reportedly darker than its predecessor. Another is being described as Smith’s version of a pop album.
After nearly five decades of redefining melancholy, are you ready to hear what Robert Smith’s idea of a “banging” Cure pop record sounds like?
