From Music Week:

"Robert Smith is beyond passionate": Polydor's Ben Mortimer on The Cure's triumphant return to No.1

by George Garner

It was very much a case of Friday, The UK's In Love for The Cure, as the iconic group and their label Polydor celebrated an incredible charts results day on Friday, November 8. 

More than 32 years after their only previous No.1 album, Robert Smith’s band marked an emphatic return to the top of the chart with their 14th studio release – and first for 16 years – Songs Of A Lost World.

Indeed, Polydor co-president Ben Mortimer has told Music Week that even when held against their own lofty expectations, the response from the public has been "overwhelming". Songs Of A Lost World has effectively done seven times the first week sales of 2008's 4:13 Dream, and outsold three of their last four albums' entire lifetime sales in one week. 

So, how does it look when broken down?

Well, for one, The Cure outsold the rest of the Top 5 combined, with a stellar opening frame of 51,362 sales (19,838 CDs, 23,182 vinyl albums, 1,219 cassettes, 4,546 digital downloads and 2,577 sales-equivalent streams) according to Official Charts Company data.

First week sales of Songs Of A Lost World are, in fact, the fifth highest on debut for any album in 2024, trailing only Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department (270,091), Coldplay’s Moon Music (236,796), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet (89,658) and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard & Soft (67,111). 

For further context, let's turn to Music Week charts analyst Alan Jones' breakdown: “[The Cure] also exceed the to-date sales of The Cure’s last studio album, 2008’s 4:13 Dream, which debuted and peaked at No.33 on consumption of 7,360 units, 16 years ago last week, and has to-date consumption of 35,123 units. Songs Of A Lost World’s 597.85% increase on that album’s first frame is due to many factors, including the fact it has been so long since an album by The Cure; the multiplicity of its physical formats (two CD, two cassette and six vinyl); a live stream of their 1 November gig at The Troxy; a BBC Radio Two ‘In Concert’ performance; and the popularity of Songs Of A Lost World singles Alone and A Fragile Thing. The latter track has provided the band’s highest radio airplay chart position – No.26 – for more than 20 years last week, including attracting 59 plays from the aforementioned Radio Two so far.”

Robert Smith wanted to know how much we believed in the record before he'd commit to working with us, so we didn't hear a note until the deal was signed – which was a touch that I loved and respected

On top of this, Polydor have actually secured a chart double this week, with their act Gracie Abrams also topping the UK singles chart with That's So True jumping to No.1 on sales of 40,798.

Here, Polydor president Ben Mortimer, talks about working with Robert Smith, getting the band back to the top, and more...

Before we get into the campaign, what has it meant to you personally to work on The Cure's first new record in 16 years? And what has it been like working closely with Robert Smith?  

“First off, I am the hugest fan. Disintegration got me through a tough period in my early teens. I've always loved the band's ability to be so mournful and despairing and marry it with such beautiful melodic pop songs, so it meant huge amounts to me personally to get to work on this. And working with him has been a privilege. Robert is so dedicated to his craft, he's beyond passionate about the band and its legacy. He wanted to know how much we believed in the record before he'd commit to working with us. So we didn't hear a note until the deal was signed, which was a touch that I loved and respected. He is hands on in every part of his business in the most inspiring way.”

The Cure have returned, obviously, to a massively different music landscape compared to the one they operated in with 4:13 Dream. What were Polydor’s hopes and expectations for week one given there's not been a new album for so long, and have the actual sales surprised you? 

“I had a feeling it would do well. We're lucky enough to work The Cure catalogue, so are well aware of how well their music streams and across so many generations. But this has been an overwhelming response that in truth we didn't completely predict. But then again it's an incredible record, with 5/5s across the board. As predictable as this sounds, the greatest music always finds its way to people in the end.” 

It’s interesting how you achieved the result without a very long pre-order period compared to most albums. What did you have to work with in terms of data/fanbase for the campaign? There's obviously their incredible catalogue too – how have you reactivated that in the run-up? 

“Whether intentionally or not, the band have been running the smartest teaser campaign. It would be worthy of a Music Week marketing award! He teased the record was coming years ago. Something he says he regrets, but it created a sense of folklore around the album, and the band have been playing songs from it on tour for several years. Clips have been all over the internet. All of this created feverish demand amongst the fanbase.” 

There looks set to be huge international success with the album as well, what role did Polydor play in connecting all the dots globally for that to happen? Did you have any specific territories outside of the UK that you really wanted to target?

“They're huge in Europe, Australia, North, Central and South America. As soon as we told our partners this was coming there was palpable excitement and demand. We zoned in on Germany, France, Holland, and several other key markets, and they've all delivered. It's testament to the power of the global company.”  

The Troxy show was another big moment of the launch week, not least because they played the whole album in full. Why are intimate launch shows still so effective in your mind? 

“Our partnership with YouTube on the live stream made it possible. And they recorded insane levels of traffic on it. They're a stadium and festival band, so to see them this intimate, was a special experience even for those on the live stream. Playing for over three hours… It was truly my 2024 highlight.”

On top of The Cure, Polydor also have the No.1 single this week with Gracie Abrams. What does that say about Polydor right now in terms of your roster, and your ability to get top results for veteran and new artists alike? 

"The Polydor roster is well renowned as one of the best in the UK business. We have long relationships with so many artists whose careers continue to flourish. Lana Del Rey is nine albums in, Michael Kiwanuka is four. The Cure and Snow Patrol recent successes are current examples of how seriously we take career longevity. Gracie's first number No.1 single shows how we are equally committed to the next generation of artists coming through. They are after all the lifeblood of our business."

(Photo, L-R): Ali Tant, Robert Smith, Jim Chancellor, Ben Mortimer, Faye Jordan and Fred Stuart) 

The Cure's Songs of a Lost World debuts at #4 on the Billboard 200 in the US.

From Billboard:

The Cure achieves its highest charting album in over 30 years, and first top 10 in over 20 years, with the No. 4 debut of Songs of a Lost World.

Songs of a Lost World bows with 57,000 equivalent album units earned (the act’s best week by units). Of that sum, album sales comprise 53,000 (The Cure’s biggest sales week since 2004, when its self-titled album launched with 91,000), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.02 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Songs of a Lost World also debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales; the first leader for The Cure on the 33-year-old chart. The new album’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across five vinyl variants (which sold a combined 23,000 copies; the band’s best week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991), a standard CD, a CD/blu-ray audio package, two cassettes, a standard digital download and a deluxe digital download with five bonus live tracks (exclusive to the band’s webstore).

From The Cure:

SONGS OF A LOST WORLD IS ALBUM OF THE WEEK ON @BBCRADIO2. TUNE IN THIS WEEK TO VERNON KEY & OJ BORG TO HEAR TRACKS FROM THE ALBUM

From Variety:

From Billboard:

The Cure’s ‘Songs of a Lost World’ Debuts at No. 1 on Multiple Billboard Charts

The set marks the group's first leader on the 33-year-old Top Album Sales chart, and the band's highest-charting album on the Billboard 200 since 1992.

By Keith Caulfield 

The Cure make a striking return to Billboard’s album charts (dated Nov. 16) with the arrival of Songs of a Lost World. It’s the band’s first No. 1 on the 33-year-old Top Album Sales chart and the act’s highest-charting effort on the Billboard 200 (No. 4) since 1992. It also bows at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums, Top Rock Albums, Top Alternative Albums, Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales.

Songs of a Lost World is the group’s first album of new material since 2008. The new album is the act’s third top 10-charting set on the Billboard 200, following its self-titled effort (No. 7 in July 2004) and Wish (No. 2 in May 1992)

Equivalent album units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Nov. 16, 2024-dated charts will be posted in full on Billboard’s website on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Songs of a Lost World bows with 57,000 equivalent album units earned (the act’s best week by units) in the United States in the week ending Nov. 7, according to Luminate. Of that sum, album sales comprise 53,000 (The Cure’s biggest sales week since 2004, when its self-titled album launched with 91,000), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.02 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.

The new album’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across five vinyl variants (which sold a combined 23,000 copies; the band’s best week on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991), a standard CD, a CD/blu-ray audio package, two cassettes, a standard digital download and a deluxe digital download with five bonus live tracks (exclusive to the band’s webstore).

The set’s “A Fragile Thing” rises 25-22 on Alternative Airplay (a new peak and its highest charting song since 2004) and 12-10 on Adult Alternative Airplay (The Cure’s first top 10, and third charting hit, since the list began in 1996).

Welcome to Bluesky, Reeves & Susan! They did confirm this on Twitter.

https://bsky.app/profile/reevesgabrels.bsky.social

My coworker Josh Duffney launches his self-published book on Ansible today!

Congrats and I wish great success!

Crawl, walk, run, sprint your way through learning Ansible with "Become Ansible"! Visit his website becomeansible.com

Come one, come all! nycdevops does its first virtual meetup! All are invited!

• Speaker: Adarsh Shah
• Topic: "Continuous Delivery for Machine Learning"
• Time: Thursday, September 17, 2020, 5-630 PM
• Link: https://www.meetup.com/nycdevops/events/272914068/

Hope to see you there!

This month's nycdevops meetup speaker is Nathen Harvey of Google, who will give a talk titled "Introduction to Site Reliability Engineering".

The talk starts at 5pm sharp! (NY is in US/Eastern)

Please RSVP! See you there!

https://www.meetup.com/nycdevops/events/272956481/

(This is a virtual meetup. Everyone around the world is invited!)

This isn't directly sysadmin-related, but it made me think of how a really good outage retrospective can teach others how to prevent problems in the future.

"On the 15th anniversary of the incident, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is announcing a forthcoming interactive training application based on one of the worst industrial disasters in recent U.S. history--the March 23, 2005, explosion at the BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, which killed 15 workers, injured 180 others, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. This updated animation will be included in the training, which will focus on OSHA's Process Safety Management standard. Look for it soon at CSB.gov."

Content warning: Death

Buttermilk pies are simple, unassuming, and a breeze to throw together if you keep pie dough at the ready. The buttermilk filling here is a standout - simple, creamy, and maple-sweetened with a kiss of lemony tang and sea salt.

Continue reading Buttermilk Pie on 101 Cookbooks

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Continue reading Rose Shortbread Cookies on 101 Cookbooks

A wonderful farro and roasted butternut squash recipe. Balsamic roasted butternut squash, deeply toasted walnuts, and nutty farro come together in this delicious recipe.

Continue reading Farro with Roasted Butternut Squash on 101 Cookbooks

This baked pasta is a cold-weather crowd-pleaser made of alternating layers of broken farro pasta, sliced potatoes, two cheeses, and mustardy shredded cabbage. It’s the sort of thing you can prep a day or two ahead of time, and bake when convenient.

Continue reading Baked Pasta on 101 Cookbooks

Everything I know about making grissini. These beloved, pencil-thin Italian breadsticks are made with just five ingredients. No mixer is needed and you don’t need to proof your yeast.

Continue reading Grissini (Italian Breadsticks) on 101 Cookbooks

This baked ziti uses ricotta, mozzarella, and creme fraîche to make a bubbly, rich pasta with a hearty, spinach-flecked red sauce loaded with flavor. The creme fraîche keeps things silky, adds dimension, and is a game changer. A family favorite that freezes well and happily feeds a crowd.

Continue reading Baked Ziti on 101 Cookbooks

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B3ta newsletter 927, out now "ASCII NEWSLETTER FLASHES SIDE-BOOB AND REVEALS PERKY URLS" This Week: * QUEEN RESPECTS - how your fave brands paid them * JUST OUT OF SHOT - image challenge * SHANNON MATTHEWS THE MUSICAL - on your telly

Goodbye Legless Sorry to share this news - from the email: "Hi B3ta. Bit of sad news, Joe Thompson aka Legless passed away last week. Thought you might want to post something, better coming from you instead of some random lurker. The funeral will be webcast. Whack it in /links for a suitably tasteless send off :)" If you want to leave a comment - stick it on the thread.

B3ta newsletter 928, out now "FRANKIE SAYS EX-LAX: SHART THE UNEMPLOYED" This Week: * ARE HOLIDAYS GOOD? - find out now * IMAGE CHALLENGE - sitcom monster mashup results * CONTROL PACMAN - with your own face, at last

B3ta newsletter 929, out now "ONCE AGAIN THE HAM MARKETING BOARD REJECT OUR SLOGAN: SNORTY BUT SLICED" This Week: * LOST CONSONANTS - legendary B3ta challenge back * PRIME NUMBER PROJECT - can you count? Then count * OFFICIAL AMSTRAD NOSTALGIA SITE - thanks Alan

The hepatitis E virus protein ORF1 contains a region that scientists have struggled to characterize, making the structure and function of this region the subject of much debate. Now, Princeton scientists show that this region of the protein does not behave as a protease, as has been previously suggested, but instead serves as a molecular scaffold to stabilize the rest of the ORF1 protein.

Getting hit with one hurricane is bad enough, but new research from Princeton Engineering shows that back-to-back versions may become common for many areas in coming decades.

A Princeton-led team of astrophysicists has measured a surprising value for the “clumpiness” of the universe’s dark matter.

Princeton chemists used MacMillan's µMap, a molecular mapping technology, to watch tiny changes in a DNA-protein complex called chromatin — essentially, an architecture that allows for the compaction of DNA — in the presence of genetic mutations associated with cancer.

Sugar gliders and bats are about as distantly related as any two mammals on Earth, but new Princeton research shows their wings are formed from the same genetic ingredients. 

The National Science Foundation has awarded a $52.66 million grant to fund a major infrastructure upgrade to the Simons Observatory in the Atacama Desert of Chile. Upgrades are expected to take about five years; the resulting facility will be known as the Advanced Simons Observatory (ASO).

The Princeton professor's research follows elephants, wolves and urban lizards. He hosts the new PBS series, "Human Footprint."

The landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has committed nearly $400 billion to mitigating climate change. Nine research teams across the U.S, including a Princeton team led by Jesse Jenkins, have now modeled the law's effect on U.S. carbon emissions.

While we primarily think of viruses as targeting their attacks against us, they are also in constant competition with each other.

The world wastes enough food to feed a billion people. A collaboration between Princeton and Microsoft Research is engineering a 6G wireless sensor to be part of the solution.

This is the second round of Princeton Alliance for Collaborative Research (PACRI) projects partnering HBCU and Princeton researchers.

Two NASA telescopes helped an international team of astrophysicists peer far enough back in time to gain new insight on how black holes form.

Scientists have long known that magnetic fields probably extract energy from spinning black holes — they just didn’t know how.

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New paper from Princeton team challenges the conventional wisdom of superconducting quantum transitions.

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Two projects — one that maps the function of the brain’s neuronal network in unprecedented detail and another that combines robotics and light-based computer circuits to create safe self-driving vehicles — have been awarded funding through Princeton’s Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund.

Princeton's first alumni affinity conference since 2019 welcomed more than 600 alumni and guests to campus Sept. 19-21, for “Every Voice: Honoring and Celebrating Princeton’s LGBTQ+ Alumni.” 

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An international team of researchers and gamers, led by Princeton’s Mala Murthy and Sebastian Seung, mapped every neuron and every synaptic connection in an adult fruit fly's brain, building a comprehensive “connectome” that represents a massive step toward understanding the human brain.

Decision informed by report of the CPUC Committee on Naming.

Craig B. Arnold has been named Princeton’s first University Innovation Officer and heads the new office.