Brit Beat: Inside the Cure’s Big Halloween Comeback: Concert, BBC Takeover and ‘Lost World’ Album

Mark Sutherland
·11-min read

\It’s been 16 long years since legendary British alternative rockers the Cure last released a studio album, but the campaign for the band’s new outing, “Lost World,” has made it feel like they’ve never been away.

And the band has also returned “home” to the Fiction-via-Polydor label, which released the band’s recordings up until 2004’s self-titled album. The most recent two Cure albums came out via America on Geffen, but Polydor Label Group President Ben Mortimer says he made it his “mission” to bring the band back to the record company.

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“I actually can’t believe it’s happened because it’s been a conversation that’s been going on for so long,” Mortimer tells Variety. “Robert Smith sits alongside Paul Weller, who we brought back to Polydor a few years ago, as one of those people who are really in the fabric of the label. [The return] has really energized the whole label and tapped into the soul of what we do.”

Mortimer says “huge credit” should also go to Fiction Records Managing Director Jim Chancellor, “who has had a brilliant relationship with Robert for a long time.” Smith manages the band himself and Mortimer says the release plan came together over numerous emails featuring Smith’s trademark “all caps firmly on” style.

Key to the strategy was a suitably gothic Cure takeover of the BBC on Halloween, the day before “Songs of a Lost World” dropped, with a live session on BBC Radio 6 Music and a career-spanning BBC Radio 2 “In Concert” recording, which was also televised as part of a BBC 2 Cure night on November 2. The “In Concert” recording reportedly received the most ticket applications of any show in the long-running series.

“One of the stipulations Robert had on doing the deal was that the album to come out straight after Halloween,” Mortimer says. “Our production team had to jump through hoops to deliver vinyl and everything in time. It was really touch and go but Robert was very clear, unless it’s coming November 1, we ain’t doing this!”

The band also made a spectacular full live return with an intimate show at London’s Troxy venue on November 1, which featured a full rendition of the new album as well as many other songs. It was livestreamed around the world on YouTube and attended by many other musicians, from Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong to Culture Club’s Boy George.

All that attention – and some of the best reviews of the band’s career – has also translated into record sales, with the album set to debut at No.1 in the Official U.K. Albums Chart on November 8. It had already passed 40,000 units by Monday, according to the Official Charts Company. That’s despite this being the band’s first album release of the streaming age – previous studio album “4:13 Dream” came out in 2008 – with Mortimer saying the band racked up huge numbers of Spotify pre-saves.

“The Universal catalog team, alongside Robert, have done a very good job of keeping things alive for years, but it’s more than that,” says Mortimer. “If you look at their streams, there are tracks at over 700 million on Spotify, so there is a young audience there that streams the Cure.

“We’ve brought in new ideas – Robert’s remarkably open to modern ways of thinking, he’s such an intelligent man, he grasps things so quickly – but I don’t think it changed his strategy,” Mortimer adds. “Some artists are able to speak to different generations, and the Cure are one of those.”

With the band likely to announce further touring plans, Mortimer is expecting a long campaign for the album, one of the first big releases through the new Polydor Label Group, after a major Universal U.K. restructure: Mortimer now also oversees the Capitol U.K. and 0207 Def Jam labels, run by Jo Charrington and Alec Boateng respectively.

“It’s been a crazy year across the whole business, but I’m really thankful about the new responsibilities that I have,” says Mortimer. “Working with Jo and Alec is just an absolute dream, they’re some of the best A&R executives of recent generations and they’ve brought so many brilliant artists into our system, so I’m feeling really lucky. Everyone complements each other really well.”

Meanwhile, the American release of “Songs of a Lost World” goes through Capitol, meaning Mortimer has reunited with his former Polydor co-president Tom March, now chairman/CEO of Capitol Music Group (“Tom’s wonderful – having a Brit over there who gets it has been really helpful”). The pair revived Polydor’s fortunes in the 2010s and Mortimer is hopeful the Cure’s renewed success could also bring back the buzz to music from this side of the pond.

“It feels like there’s real interest in what the U.K. and Ireland does really well again,” he says. “You look at Oasis, the Cure, plus we’re getting such an explosion of interest on Sam Fender at the moment and we’re seeing growth on a band like Inhaler… We’ve been talking about it for 15 years but it’s genuinely happening now.”

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Another star enjoying a spectacular career revival is Kylie Minogue. Her “Tension II” album – the sequel to 2023’s No.1 “Tension”, which spawned the huge global hit “Padam Padam” – debuted at the top of the Official U.K. Albums Chart last month, continuing her remarkable run of success since signing to BMG U.K. in 2017.

Since then, Minogue has doubled her tally of U.K. No.1 albums from five to 10, with every BMG release so far hitting the top spot. The success coincides with her revived creative partnership with BMG SVP of new recordings, Jamie Nelson, who first A&R-ed Minogue in 1999 when she was signed to Parlophone.

“We can have really honest conversations about music,” Nelson tells Variety. “Kylie would know if I was bullshitting. The idea that you could be in a situation where you weren’t 100% honest with Kylie is not really possible — because of the history, we’re always coming from a place of clarity when it comes to the job in hand, which is to find the very best work. And Kylie’s brilliant at that.”

Nelson says the idea for “Tension II” came from Kylie herself, after the success of the original album saw her offered collaborations with a new generation of A-list songwriters, producers and featured artists.

“None of the tracks on ‘Tension II’ are ‘cast-offs’ from the previous album, they’re a continuation of her wanting to create,” says Nelson. “There were all these great songs and Kylie was of the mindset to get them out. The ‘Tension’ era has been fun, and she was really keen, with the tour coming up, to continue within that environment.”

The original “Tension” sparked Minogue’s revival in fortunes Stateside, after BMG and Minogue’s managers, Polly Bhowmik and Alli Main of A&P Management, targeted the market. Minogue’s 2023-24 Las Vegas residency at the Venetian attracted strong reviews and huge ticket sales and the North American leg of the mammoth “Tension” world tour — including two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden — which was her biggest U.S. jaunt in years.

“When we first started working with Kylie, she was in a very different spot, so we’re really proud of the work that’s gone on,” says Nelson. “We’ve made a real focus on connecting with new audiences and making sure we broaden her appeal internationally. And Kylie’s been really smart, engaged and excited to learn new skills and ways of reaching people via social media platforms, making sure she’s leaning into the digital side of life.”

BMG is one of many large record labels to undergo major changes in recent times, with new CEO Thomas Coesfeld leading a restructure last year. And Nelson says the new system is working well.

“None of these things are easy, but all the fundamental changes have been made logically and we’re in a really solid, great position going forward,” says Nelson. “This campaign is a good example of a significant project that we’ve worked really well. It feels like a very active time for people at BMG and we’re excited about what’s ahead of us.”

Nelson is adamant that future definitely won’t include a “Tension III”, but he doesn’t expect it will take long before Minogue starts thinking about new music.

“Normally, there’s a very, very short lull and then I start getting bombarded with WhatsApp messages about ideas Kylie might have or sessions that she wants to do,” he laughs. “There’s very little downtime to the process because she just loves it. Can she get any bigger? Of course! You’re always just one record away from a bigger moment for any artist – that’s the beauty of what we do.”

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Reviving a current star is one thing, but a new London immersive show hopes to bring the King of Rock’n’Roll himself, Elvis Presley, back to life.

“Elvis Evolution” will open at Immerse LDN – the U.K. capital’s new destination for immersive entertainment experiences – in May 2025 and promises “a high-energy, high-tech homage” centered around Presley’s iconic ’68 “Comeback Special” performance. The show is being produced through a partnership between British immersive entertainment production company Layered Reality (which produces the popular “Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience” show in London) and Elvis Presley Enterprises and Authentic Brands Group, the custodians of Presley’s estate.

Full details of the show and the technology used are yet to be released, but Layered Reality CEO Andrew McGuinness says it will go “beyond the traditional tribute and deliver something truly immersive, something that makes the audience feel as if they’re right there with Elvis himself.”

The 110-minute production will use state-of-the-art technology, including generative AI, to bring Elvis to life from thousands of Presley’s personal photos and home videos, as well as performance footage. McGuinness says it is “designed to be a full-sensory experience; not a concert, but a moment you’ll carry with you.”

Immerse LDN – part of the huge London ExCel complex – is already home to experiences based on “Friends” and Formula 1 racing. But ExCel’s director of immersive entertainment & events, Damian Norman, tells Variety dealing with an icon like Elvis raises the bar.

“When you have a name like Elvis and the influence the man had across the music industry and culture, the responsibility is one that lays heavy,” he says. “The expectation of what will be done is high, and I absolutely believe in Layered Reality.”

Norman acknowledges that the hugely successful ABBA Voyage show, staged not far away from Immerse LDN in the purpose-built ABBA Arena, plus the advent of Sphere in Las Vegas, has raised audience expectations around immersive entertainment. But he says “Elvis Evolution,” which will only have a capacity of around 200 people per show, will offer something different to those experiences.

“It’s a very different sized experience to ABBA Voyage,” he says. “It’s like seeing a band at the Garage in Islington and seeing the Rolling Stones at Twickenham – a totally different musical experience in terms of intimacy. There will be things that ‘Elvis Evolution’ will give an audience that ABBA Voyage simply can’t because of its size and scale, and vice versa.”

Norman says Immerse LDN will launch three further immersive experiences in 2025, one of which will have “music as a strong part of it, but it’s not artist-specific.” He expects the complex to eventually attract 2.5 million visitors per year.

In the meantime, the exec says “Elvis Evolution” ticket sales have “surpassed expectations” since they became available on October 25 and is confident the show has “all the potential to become a fixture” on the London scene.

“If you get the experience right night after night, and you blend value-for-money with giving people things they didn’t even expect and blow their mind, why wouldn’t you run this for a long time?” he asks. “You’ve got a lot of competition, but Elvis isn’t performing anywhere else in the world.”

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Finally, there was an impressive industry turnout in London as Sony Music U.K. chairman/CEO Jason Iley picked up the prestigious Music Industry Trusts Award on November 4.

Mark Ronson, Cat Burns and Jake Bugg all performed live, while the likes of Calvin Harris, Little Mixers Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall, George Ezra and Paloma Faith were in attendance, as were Sony Music bosses Jon Platt and Rob Stringer (who himself picked up the MITs Award in 2017) and most of the U.K.’s big industry players.

Mariah Carey, U2, Pink, The Killers and Sir Lucian Grainge (another previous MITs winner) were amongst those sending video tributes to former Universal and Roc Nation exec Iley who, after 10 years in the job, is the longest-serving chairman in Sony U.K.’s history.

The event raised vital funds for two U.K. music charities, the BRIT Trust and Nordoff & Robbins.

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