The Cure release two new songs as charity single

30 August 2024, 12:49 | Updated: 30 August 2024, 13:06

Robert Smith is issuing unreleased tracks recorded live in 2022 as part of a charity release this week.

The Cure are set to release their first official new material since 2008 as a special charity single.

Two songs - And Nothing Is Forever and I Can Never Say Goodbye - were recorded on the band's 2022 Shows Of A Lost World tour in November 2022 and will form a double A-side, released on 30th August.

The 12" "eco single" - titled The Cure – Novembre: Live in France 2022 is in conjunction with the climate charity Earth Percent and is released by Naked Record Club.

Studio versions of the tracks are expected to be included on the band's long-awaited album Songs Of A Lost World, which still has no release date as yet.

And Nothing Is Forever was at the Sud de France arena in Montpellier on 8th November 2022, while I Can Never Say Goodbye was recorded on 13th November the same year at the Zenith, Toulouse. The single technically marks the first new material to be released by The Cure since their album 4:13 Dream was issued on 27th October 2008.

The transparent black vinyl is completely sustainable and uses "80-90% less electricity than traditional vinyl pressing machines". The band say that the manufacturing process was "brought to Robert Smith's attention via members of The Cure fanbase".

Only 5,000 copies of the record will be released on 1st October 2024, with 100 of those signed by Robert Smith himself, with this ultra-limited edition priced at £250.

The vinyl is available to order from the label's official webstore from 2pm (BST) on Friday, 30th August. Pre-order the single here.

All profits will go to EarthPercent, who aim to "help artists raise funds that are distributed to the most impactful organisations addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency".

• Read more: The Cure's Songs Of A Lost World: album release date, tracks and more

A number of new tracks from the projected album Songs Of A Lost World were played throughout The Cure's 2022 European tour and on their 2023 North and South American dates, but the LP itself has yet to be added to the release schedules.

In August 2019, Smith told the Los Angeles Times: “I keep going back over and redoing them, which is silly. At some point, I have to say that’s it."

He admitted the sound of the album had been affected by family bereavements: “It’s very much on the darker side of the spectrum. I lost my mother and my father and my brother recently, and obviously it had an effect on me.

“It’ll be worth the wait. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done, but then I would say that. A lot of the songs are difficult to sing, and that’s why it’s taken me a while."

The Cure - And Nothing Is Forever (Live) 4K

On 20th October 2022 in Kraków, Poland, the band debuted I Can Never Say Goodbye. Smith explained that it was about his brother, Richard, who had died recently and, according to Robert, had lived in Poland for a number of years.

It was Richard's participation in a local collective with the unlikely name of The Crawley Goat Band that really sparked Robert's interest in performing music. The song's lyrics make reference to Ray Bradbury's book Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is a favourite of Smith's.

The Cure - I Can Never Say Goodbye (live in Paris - Multicam)