Ditching producer Ross Robinson is the best move The Cure made following their self-titled release. It would make little difference for 4:13 Dream, though, the thirteenth studio album by the band and their follow-up to that Robinson collaboration. With frontman Robert Smith now with his hands on producing the album as well as writing and performing, the pressure is on. It sounds as though it gets to him a bit, even with the constant quality he had found for the band in experimenting with new wave styles in the 1980s. The Cure sounded as though they ran out of steam. An ugly patch of work where the best bits are often overwhelmed by either instrumental indifference or a stretch of underwhelming writing. 4:13 Dream is a mash-up of both. There are likeable parts to 4:13 Dream, but when a listener inevitably compares these works to the best-of pieces, they pale in comparison.
Opening duo Underneath the Stars and The Only One features that blur of goth-adjacent instrumentals and the sickly-sweet style of writing Smith would incorporate for years. It is a fine balance, but it fails to bring out the best in the band. Those twinkling noises in the background are overused, the sexualised relationships within The Only One are underwhelming. Smith still writes well, and there are more than a few standout moments on 4:13 Dream to suggest he was coping well with the new duties in the studio. But there is also this feeling of each song being a rehash of what had worked for The Cure before. At least those references to the past feel, fundamentally, like The Cure. Smith and the band are swayed by the modern instrumentals on Freakshow, a song which was a clear chance to craft a punchy, quick-tempo song. It falls to pieces, though, because The Cure, while trying to evolve from their previous works, are also trying to reconnect with their heyday.
A messy blur is what occurs, though 4:13 Dream has some enjoyable spots. Playful moments on The Real Snow White is a sweet reminder of how outlandish The Cure could be, even when toying with conventional genre sounds. It is difficult to escape the feeling that 4:13 Dream is a rehash of what had worked before, but the band do not try and hide this from listeners. Switch opens with some brilliant guitar work but fades off soon after. It sounds as though The Cure are struggling to maintain momentum here, and there are plenty of instances where the band cannot, it would seem, commit to turning this music into something that sounds like more than fanfare. Isolation plays its part in Smith’s lyrics, but expectedly so. They cannot capture the excitement as they explore recognisable sounds once more.
The Cure never sounds as though they are all too confident of the material at hand on 4:13 Dream. None of it feels lazy, but it does sound as though Smith and the band are all too comfortable revisiting the spots which made them household names. Revisiting with the desire to expand and reflect, that is no problem at all. But what 4:13 Dream is at the best of times is a careful retread of the same tones the band had perfected and ditched in the 1980s and 1990s. Consistent enough to be likeable, broad enough to be forgotten soon after listening. Sole track of interest, The Scream, salvages the latter half of the album. The Cure would struggle to finish an album for eighteen years after the release of 4:13 Dream. The wait, thankfully, was worth it. They got themselves out of the rut. Sometimes it is worth reminding yourself just how sloppy it got for the band.
