New Wave fans are in for an early Yule treat as two genre giants released albums with Tears For Fears and The Cure dropping full-length records days apart. 

Tears For Fears needs no introduction. The duo of Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith helped define the sound of the mid-to-late 80s and is one of the greatest musical imports of the U.K. as far as I’m concerned. Thankfully, Tears For Fears is active and has released new music as recently as two years ago with “The Tipping Point.” Now comes “Songs For A Nervous Planet,” which features four new songs alongside a slew of Tears For Fears live tracks from the band’s recent tours. 

Focusing on the new, “Songs For A Nervous Planet” aptly starts with “Say Goodbye To Mum and Dad” and the lyric reads like a thesis statement of what’s wrong with the world today. “Say hello to the ghosts of Leningrad / everything is up for grabs / go tell all your friends society’s gone mad”; a subtle jab at warring despots and crazy wannabe’s but juxtaposed against Curt Smith’s lifting melody and lively rhythms. Ah, a classic Tears For Fears device: reeling you in with the most memorable songs about wretched themes.

Even when singing about relations, TFF can’t help but see it through an anguished perspective like on the Roland Orzabal-sung “The Girl I Call Home.” But the music is robust and uplifting, and the same goes for “Emily Said”  as it echoes “Sowing The Seeds Of Love.” Ruminative “Astronaut” sees Orzabal switching falsetto and his ‘voz de tenor profunda’ in a heady mix of David Bowie, lo-fi synth, and rock.

The rest of the album is a ‘live greatest hits’ from one of the greatest rock/new wave duos we should be thankful is still around.

It’s a series of firsts  for The Cure with their new album “Songs Of A Lost World.” First in 16 years to feature replacement guitarist Reeves Gabrels fully on an album, and first to feature an all Robert Smith-composed material since 1985’s “The Head On The Door.” It’s the album fans have been waiting for since the band became wholly active again after securing their place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. 

Listening to the early part of “Songs Of A Lost World” feels like a movie unfolding in my head. Some potent keyboard work outlines moody sonic themes of the opening tracks “Alone” and “And Nothing Is Forever.” Vocalist-songwriter-guitarist and soul-of-the-band Robert Smith then channels classic The Cure on the saturnine temperament of “A Fragile Thing.” 

The art/noise rock of 90s-era The Cure rears its head on “Warsong” and “Drone: nodrone” – featuring prime guitar work from Gabrels–proving that The Cure isn’t just some goth band but, in fact, a progenitor of bands such as Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, My Chemical Romance and many more. Check out the bass work of Simon Gallup on tracks “I Can Never Say Goodbye” and “All I Ever Am” and be transported. Smith and The Cure: Gabrels, Gallup, keyboardist Roger O’Donnell, keys-guitarist Perry Bamonte, and drummer Jason Cooper launched the new album at London’s Troxy with a 31-song set that included a mini-set of songs from their 1980 album “Seventeen Seconds” to commemorate its 45th anniversary plus choice picks “Friday I’m In Love,” and “Boys Don’t Cry” among others. The show can be seen in full through a link in The Cure's official socials.