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THE CURE

TITLE Unconfirmed

LABEL Unconfirmed

RELEASE DATE 2021

Expect “heavy and dark” moods on the much-anticipated comeback from Robert Smith’s band of brothers

REEVES GABRELS, GUITAR: We started the record in January 2019 in Wales – we went in for about two months. We’d all been writing before that. So we got together and listened to it all, learned it, went in the studio and recorded it. There’s enough material for two or three records, a lot of stuff. So one of the problems, when you’ve got enough for two records, is deciding which songs to bring to completion. Right now I’m not 100 per cent sure where we’re at. Are we at a record and a half? Are we two records finished? I always feel as though The Cure is Robert’s to talk about, so I’ll defer to him on that. But he did say the record was finished at one point and we all kind of went, “What?”

It’s a heavy and dark record as well. I don’t think there are any short songs on there. The description of Lou Reed’s Berlin when it came out was that it was the “Sgt Pepper of depression” – I don’t know if we’re that psychedelic, but we are that depressed. It was a tough couple of years for everybody. A by-product of getting older is that people around you keep dying. We all lost relatives. Robert lost his brother, I lost a stepdad and father-in-law – while we were on the road, too, which meant there was more strain. Not that we have to go and put on a happy face when we play. The playing in fact was more like a salvation, that was our point of solace. All that fed into what we ended up doing. We’ve been having a great time playing as a band. We’re enjoying each other’s company.

We didn’t have time to finish the vocal tracks [in 2019], and this year was going to be required to look at everything we did in 2019. We had one gig scheduled for June. The wonder of modern technology is such that we don’t have to be in the same place at the same time, although that would be preferable. When we did the basic recording we were all there.

Work has been continuing remotely this year: a Zoom call on one computer. Robert on a chair in front of a screen and me in front of my computer with a guitar plugged into a bunch of stuff. It’s possible to make it work and just as comical as being in the studio – even when you’re just a head on a chair. Like, “Don’t say anything, or I’m going to close this laptop!”

“Work has been continuing remotely this year… it’s just as comical as being in the studio”
REEVES GABRELS

If we’re going to make a record that’s truly an emotional thing, then there’s a certain amount of guitar stuff where I need to hear Robert’s finished vocal because it’s reactive – I have to be able to get into that space to respond to what Robert is singing musically. There are a few little bits and pieces on a couple of the songs that still need to be done. I think it’ll all become clear by the summertime.

JACKSON BROWNE

TITLE Downhill From Everywhere

LABEL Inside Recordings

RELEASE DATE Spring 2021

West Coast singer-songwriter ponders his legacy on an erudite mix of the personal and the eco-political

’VE put together songs that I worked on for three years or more with a bunch of new songs. The first thing we did was “My Cleveland Heart”, which I wrote with [] Val McCallum. We cut it with Davey Faragher and Pete Thomas, from Elvis Costello’s Imposters, who also play in Val’s band, Jackshit. “Downhill From Everywhere” and “A Little Soon To Say” have already been out, as have “Love Is Love” and “The Dreamer”. They’re songs from specific projects I was involved with, doing things with] album .