charlotte74 2006.04.08 0 0 12096 New album (and European tour?) info from BBC6 Music: 'Epic' Cure show for TCT Plus they spill beans about new record 02 April 06 - The Cure have given 6 Music an exclusive taster of their forthcoming new album. It follows their one-off show at London's Royal Albert Hall last night (Sat) which marked the grand finale to the week-long Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) series, also featuring Goldfrapp, Bloc Party and Razorlight. The veteran goth rockers took a break from working on the new material, to play an epic three-hour set which spanned their 30-year career and featured the return of former guitarist Porl Thompson. Afterwards, frontman Robert Smith told 6 Music how their stripped back show - minus keyboards - was a trial for the forthcoming album: "The idea of playing with this four-piece, without introducing other people, and recreating some of the songs with a pared down sound, is what we are all trying to do with the next record. "We have four bits in the song and they all work so well, that we do not want any other bits. That's the point of doing this." He revealed that they went into the studio two weeks ago, and consequently it was odd to play such a long concert that revisited all their old material. The singer added: "But we all thought it would be a nice way to remember why we are in the studio - and I think it worked." However, when probed about how the song's were shaping up, Robert said he hated bands who bigged up their new records. But he did tell 6 Music they took the step of going into the studio as the band believed they "did have enough good songs for it to be worthwhile". He added: "As to what it's like, I actually have no idea at the moment." The following text was also in the article this morning, and has since been removed: "6 Music can also reveal that fans who missed yesterday's sold out show will be able to catch The Cure live again before the year's out, as the band's planning a European tour in October and November which will take in the UK. Robert also blamed the fact they hadn't played too many shows over here in recent years - instead concentrating on the international market - down to them not getting "a fair press" in their home country. "There were one of two voices saying 'The Cure aren't that good, don't bother going to see them'. "So we kind of thought playing to a half full hall somewhere in the north of England wasn't that entertaining, when we knew we could could play six nights in France in the same size venue to a full house." He said things had changed in the last couple of years though, thanks to a raft of new bands citing The Cure as one of their influences.