How Robert Smith’s Wife Mary Helped Finish the Cure’s ‘Songs of a Lost World’

On November 1, The Cure finally released their first album in 16 years, Songs Of A Lost World. The famed gothic rock band’s 14th studio album has been teased for years but was delayed due to a number of factors. Fans are already singing the album’s praises. Many have called it a beautiful depiction of the experience of loss with notably heavier, shoegaze-adjacent elements that are still very much The Cure at their best. And according to frontman Robert Smith, his wife Mary Poole Smith was an important factor in completing the album.

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 6 Music, Robert Smith was frank about how his wife helped finish the highly-anticipated record.

How Mary Poole Smith Helped Complete ‘Songs Of A Lost World’

“I was finishing the doom and gloom ones… and [Mary Poole Smith] said no, no, no your best albums are the ones that just have a couple of more upbeat tracks,” said Smith in the interview with Huw Stephens. “She was right. I wanted to finish everything because I thought that’s only fair to all the songs, like they’re all little children. I don’t want to pick favorites.”

Robert Smith and Mary Poole Smith met when they were 14 in a drama class. The pair married in 1988, and he’s written quite a bit of music about her. Specifically, the classic 1989 song “Lovesong” was written as a wedding gift to Mary. The two have been married for almost 37 years and enjoy a child-free life together in England.

“Mary means so incomprehensibly much to me,” Smith once said of Mary. “I actually don’t think she has ever realized how dependent I’ve been of her during all these years we’ve been together.”

Ahead of the album’s release, The Cure performed two concerts at BBC Radio Theatre. The band then performed the entirety of Songs Of A Lost World at London Troxy on November 1.

Smith noted a few years ago while the album was still in production that the record would explore the “experience of life’s dark side.” For context, Smith’s mother, father, and brother passed away before the album was completed.

This newest release will not be the last for The Cure, either. Smith said that he doesn’t plan to retire until he’s in his 70s. He also revealed that The Cure has another two albums on the way. One of those records is “virtually finished” according to Smith.

Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

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