Review Summary: Returning to the atmosphere that made the band one of the biggest alternative bands, The Cure's Bloodflowers takes you on an hour-long journey that still stands as one of their best records over two decades later.
It’s difficult to talk about The Cure today without regurgitating what others have said in the past 40 years. It’s almost as difficult to think that critics panned some of their longstanding records such as
Pornography on release. They’ve stood the test of time as one of the biggest alternative bands ever and quite possibly my favorite. They’ve switched gears countless times with records like
The Head on the Door and have even slammed their heads on that same door with lackluster efforts such as
Wild Mood Swings. Even with these ups and downs, I still yearn for a new record that sonically brings us back to what the frontman, Robert Smith, considers the band’s “trilogy”:
Pornography,
Disintegration, and
Bloodflowers. Capturing the same magic that was created by the first two of that trilogy,
Bloodflowers makes what was old new again by creating the most cohesive and atmospheric record since
Disintegration.
With only one of the nine tracks under five minutes,
Bloodflowers isn’t something to nibble at. It’s meant to be eaten like a four course meal. Every bit dissected. The opener, “Out Of This World”, transports you to another world. With glittering acoustic guitar dancing in the air with the band’s signature wavy and distorted leads, the song encapsulates what Robert Smith has always done: make doom and gloom attractive. At moments you feel joyous, but you know you shouldn’t.
“Watching Me Fall” is the true highlight of the album, and has cemented itself as one of my favorite tracks the band has ever written. An 11-minute journey that puts you into Smith’s shoes as he battles with a deeply strained anxiety. Though he seemingly speaks about sex in the track, it’s all up for interpretation. The swell of distortion builds and never seems to release until Smith belts nearly eight minutes in giving us one of his finest vocal performances in their 40 year tenure. It’s a truly magnificent track that I feel is sorely forgotten by many fans.
“Where The Birds Always Sings” evokes the ambience of
Disintegration, “Maybe Someday” sounds like the best parts of “Wish”, and “The Last Day of Summer” incorporates some of the best piano work on the record. All three tracks seem to find the perfect balance of busyness without sounding overencumbered or overproduced. Everything sonically has its place.
“There Is No If…” is the only real blemish on the record. It’s a decent song in and of itself, but it feels less than when compared to the entire body of work. The backtrack seems a bit outdated twenty years later and feels more like a b-side. The lyrics are a bit corny and miss that quintessential Smith-ness to them. The best thing I can say about it is that it’s the only four minutes of this 58-minute record that I tend to not enjoy.
The only other song that sounds a bit dated is “The Loudest Sound”. Some of the electronics sound very much of their time, but the actual track itself is pretty damn good. Highlighting that this record has some killer guitar “riffs”, it again transports you into Smith’s point of view showing you nobody does it quite like him.
If the last two tracks took you out of the world The Cure is building around you, then the final two will pull you right back in. Simply put, “39” and “Bloodflowers” are some of the band’s best music. “39” makes you wonder what is going on in Smith’s head while perfectly melding guitar and synth work making it a true juggernaut of a song. The guitar solos give you a rare tinge of angst along with the typical sorrow they’re known for. “Bloodflowers”, while slower than the previous track, again lets you see everything through their eyes. It’s music like this that makes some like me feel like we’re not so lonely in feeling lost in life at times. Feelings of pain and dread permeate throughout the track, yet always feel like a dream you never want to wake up from. Like the majority of the record, it tells us that we’re all just human. Faults and all. To me, that is the meaning behind
Bloodflowers.
On their eleventh studio album, The Cure manage to make something feel familiar yet still feel new. Robert Smith and co. always find a way to come to this signature sound every so often to tell stories of doom and gloom that millions around the world seem to all understand. Like previous works,
Bloodflowers proves that music is a universal language. Though the album isn’t perfect, it is an album I always come back to for all the right reasons.
