STACK #241 November 2024

MUSIC FEATURE

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CLASSIC CURE

LOST AND FOUND If you’re looking for The Cure, but don’t know where to start, here are three classic albums that should be in your collection:

The Cure release their first album in 16 years, and it doesn’t disappoint.

The Head on the Door (1985) The band’s first Top 10 album in Australia featured classic lines such as “I wish I’d stayed asleep today” and “Yesterday I got so old it made me want to cry.” founding member Lol Tolhurst featured the classics Lovesong and Pictures of You , which, inexplicably, weren’t big hits in Australia, peaking at 82 and 89 Disintegration (1989) The last Cure album for

CHART FACT The Cure have had five Top 10 albums in Australia, including the chart-topping Wish , which knocked off Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik to take

W e’ve been waiting 16 long years for The Cure. Robert Smith released the last Cure album, 4:13 Dream , in 2008. The new album, Songs of a Lost World , shows that the band remains as dark and as mysterious as ever. Listening to the album you can’t help but think: Is it a swansong, or the start of something new? “This is the end of every song that we sing,” Smith declares at the start of the record in a song called Alone , a title that highlights that the singer is the last man standing from the original line-up. The second song is called And Nothing Is Forever . But then Smith sings, “I can never say goodbye”, before the album concludes with Endsong . Yep, Songs of a Lost World is a mass of contradictions. But it’s also majestic and magical. Jeff Jenkins

Robert Smith

respectively. Wish (1992) The Cure’s biggest seller,

Songs of a Lost World by The Cure is out Nov 1 via Polydor/Universal

Photo credit: Sam Rockman

top spot in Australia in May 1992.

featuring what Robert Smith called their first “happy type of pop song”, Friday I’m in Love .

Robert Smith started a band at high school called Malice. They changed the name to Easy Cure, before settling on The Cure.

Robert Smith went to school in Crawley, West Sussex with Lin Buckfield, who found fame in the ’80s with Aussie band Electric Pandas.

ABSENCE OF MALICE

FUN FACT

C ountry music is 2024’s dominant genre. But is it as good as it used to be? “Country songs used to be written by ugly outlaws,” Adam Harvey reflects in the opening track of his new album, Let the Song Take You Home . “Now pretty boys sing about pick-ups and make all the cash. Sometimes I wonder what Johnny would say about that.” The Aussie singer is a classic old-school country artist, with a voice as deep as thunder, and a ripping sense of humour that’s spread throughout his storytelling songs. “I tell my kids I regret the times I went off course,” he sings. “The truth is, if I had the chance, I’d get back on the horse.” This record is the perfect soundtrack to your next road trip. All you have to do is turn the music on and let the song take you home. With artists as good as Adam Harvey, country music is as good as it used to be. Jeff Jenkins HOME TRUTHS Let the Song Take You Home by Adam Harvey is out Nov 1 via Sony Australia’s Adam Harvey has delivered one of the year’s great country albums.

REMEMBER ME

A quick catch-up if you’re coming late to the Adam Harvey story: He was born in Geelong, where he went to Geelong College. He turns 50 next month. He released his self-titled debut 30 years ago. Let the Song Take You Home is his 17th studio album. He’s had six Top 10 albums. He’s done three albums singing The Great Country Songbook – two with Beccy Cole and one with Troy Cassar-Daley. And he’s been nominated five times for ‘Best Country Album’ at the ARIA Awards but is yet to win.

Photo credit: Tristan Edouard

Adam Harvey

82 NOVEMBER 2024

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