Full of failed loves, morbid overtones and world endings, "4:13 Dream" (Suretone/Geffen) is unabashedly The Cure.
In pure Robert Smith style, the album redefines who he is as a writer in the midst of exploring new ways to be depressed.
As the front man, Smith gives a serious twist to The Cure's whimsical clairvoyance with the band's newest installment.
After twelve studio albums to date, Smith has abandoned his usual lovesick howlings of a man apart. He lets loose with grainy, howling vocals and a wailing, unbridled double guitar, creating an almost pop-like sound.
After the sad release of 2000's "Bloodflowers," it was clear that Smith and his fellow mates needed to reinvent their sound, or just remember their roots.
Luckily, four years later, the release of their 2004 album "The Cure" was met with resounding praise, and it is safe to say that "4:13 Dream" will be no different.
Smith has resorted back to his jaw-dropping ramblings of obsession and love that made him the goth-pop God of this generation.
"4:13 Dream," originally scheduled for release in the summer of 2007, was delayed due to the band's constant and obsessive revisions.
To ease the pain, the album has been preceded by the release of singles on the thirteenth day of each of the past four months, hence the name "4:13 Dream." The singles released included "The Only One," "Freakshow," "Sleep When I'm Dead" and "The Perfect Boy."
One of the most musically diverse Cure albums to date, "4:13 Dream" gives fans a taste of what Smith has been trying to accomplish all these years. As the only original member left in The Cure, Smith has seized the opportunity to create an album that emodies him completely.
Possibly the best executed song on the album is "Underneath the Stars," in which Smith takes his musical talent to another level with ascending and descending guitar riffs, subtly brilliant snares, and dreamlike synthetic effects.
The execution of the album's first track would seem to set listeners up for a fantastical journey, but at times, the album falls short.
The same themes are present throughout the entire album, without much thought of varying the lyrical content. Smith holds strong to his title of "the messiah of melancholy" with his disheartening lyrics, such as "Don't ask me what I was before, if I was anything at all, there's nothing you can know about me now."
Nevertheless, synthesized keyboards and upbeat guitar riffs keep fans from post-Cure suicidal thoughts.
Musical experimentation and prowess saves Smith on this album. Without the stellar musical engulfment felt throughout the entire album, the album would flop lyrically.
"4:13 Dream" brings fans back to the "Friday I'm In Love" days with "Freakshow" and "The Only One," which pop and rock with effervescence.
But, as to be expected with any Cure album, "4:13 Dream" does have instances of disillusionment as Smith's vocals in both "The Scream" and "Sleep When I'm Dead" are dark and desperate.
The album quickly transforms with "The Hungry Ghost," which sounds almost like a 90's U2 ballad.
Finishing off the album with vexatious whining and self-fixated lyrics is the intensely electric "It's Over."
Smith takes past, present and future heartbreaks, and adds excitingly diverse musical interludes and morosely eccentric lyrics to create "4:13 Dream," one of the bands best albums to date.
Emma Reed can be reached at egreed@student.umass.edu.
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