The Cure - 4:13 Dream (Album)

Polydor

The Cure return after a four year abscence and they continue to show the return to form of their self-titled previous effort with '4:13 Dream' which is the so called happy album with the dark album companion piece due next year hopefully. Well i say happy album but this is The Cure after all so it's not all shiny happy but they do have that knack for writing delightfully catchy pop songs of which we do get a few here.

Now clearly the number 13 has significance here, it's The Cure's 13th album, it has 13 songs on it, and the 4 preceding singles were all released on the 13th of each month leading up to this release (though strangely the album is out on the 27th) but i'm guessing this is not some sort of superstition or marketing ploy but merely just a quirky idea that appealed to Robert Smith. I may be wrong.

And so to the songs. Well the album opener 'Underneath The Stars' has that unmistakable Cure 80's sound to it with it's chiming guitars slowly building up to Smith drenched in echo seemingly singing about those moments you see only in movies of lovers lying on the hood of a car staring at the stars in wonder. It's a great opener to the album and a reminder of what The Cure are all about.

'Only One' was the first release way back in May and it's the sort of song that epitomises The Cure with it's inherently catchy sound and lyrics with Smith getting into rude-mode 'how i love what you do to my lips/when you suck me inside/and blow me a kiss' it's very reminiscent of something like 'Just Like Heaven' era Cure.

The other releases here are the funk of 'Freakshow' with it's Hendrix riffs, 'Sleep When I'm Dead' which I can't really get into personally -it's got quite a good groove to it but it's a little over produced for my liking- and 'Perfect Boy' which is another slice of fine The Cure pop-ness that shimmers and shines all over the place with the returning Porl Thompson on guitar given free reign to decorate the album with his play.

So having got four releases before we get the album how will the rest of it match up to these tracks and, are they any indication of how it sounds? Well I wouldn't say they are necessarily the best songs on show here but they certainly are a great indicator of what to expect, demonstrating all the traits of The Cure. There is no alteration from their distinctive sound and for the most part, I guess that is a good thing and, after 13 albums I realize they are probably done with their experimenting.

Of the remaining tracks 'Sirensong' has an Americana feel to it with it's slide guitar and plodding piano. 'Real Snow White' with it's sweeping chorus is half straight ahead rock and half uplifting melodica with Smith berating 'you got what I need''. It's another one of those The Cure songs where you're not really sure if Robert Smith is singing about someone or, to someone. The Cure-by-numbers tracks in the centre 'Hungry Ghost' and 'Switch' are what you expect though the latter does fairly rattle along with it's driving drum beat.

'This. Here And Now. With You' comes along with that distinctive guitar etched on it and Smith's vocal layered over and over on itself. At the albums end, 'Scream' sounds like an out-take from Muse's 'Showbiz' album without the laser-like riffs. 'It's Over' is a fitting end sounding immediately like some sort of rock behemoth with it's thudding bass and full steam ahead guitar slices. Robert Smith doesn't turn up till halfway through and even then it's a low mumble before he finally gets to grips and lets loose, this is the fiercest thing on show on the entire album.

'4:13 Dream' is what you want from a The Cure album. There is nothing here that will come as a surprise but, if you're a fan of a band that's been around 30 years you probably want to hear songs that just instantly remind you of them and, more importantly, their timeless moments. On '4:13 Dream', The Cure do an admirable job of reminding us why we loved them in the first place and let's be honest that's all we really want.