The Cure - 4:13 Dream (2008)

 Description: My first album review! Get a glimpse of The Cure's "4:13 Dream" and why I think it's so special.

Highlights - uhh literally all of them. don’t make me choose (Underneath the Stars)

I thought the best way to start this little project was to talk about my favourite album of all time (probably). I’d say “favourite” is a hesitant but sure answer. I know that it’s quite a loaded question to ask a music-lover and I know for most it would be impossible for someone to choose. And don’t get me wrong—I don’t make this my answer based on how much I listen to it, or think it’s the best thing to ever exist, I think I just have so much of my life attached to this album I find it weird to think of anything else in its place. And maybe you want to tell me this is a non-answer for a favourite album because of that reasoning, but I can talk about it all day (and I sort of have milked it as my answer for years so I feel the need to stick to it—but I swear my love for it hasn’t changed even through that).

4:13 Dream covers the typical themes like love and romance, but how this album does it makes all the difference to me. This is an album like no other from The Cure and I hope you can get a glimpse of its art and my love for it through my writing.

The one thing I love about this album and I never shut up about is that 4:13 Dream is not trying to be anything. It’s not trying to say anything groundbreaking—everything you’re listening to is all you need from it. You don’t necessarily need to interpret it to gain anything from it. And maybe for some its lack of anything thought-provoking is a point off, but I think it allows you to be present with the album and enjoy it for what it is.

It’s not trying to be edgy or cool—it’s fun and playful, and has this sort of innocence to it that I don’t think you come across often. It’s genuine and the romance in it is pure and sweet, that sort of love in your honeymoon phase that you don’t want to end, or that long-term love that makes you take a deep breath when you hug the other person. It expresses those feelings not only through its lyrics, but through the music and melody in the instruments. The riffs in ‘The Only One,’ ‘The Reasons Why,’ and ‘Freakshow’ just to name a few are tracks that emphasize the playfulness of the album to me, and I think is sort of a trademark for The Cure. ‘Sirensong’ in particular creates a really hazy but lively atmosphere with its drawn-out high pitched guitar riff and backgrounded layers. (I go stupid for songs that have a dreamy atmosphere). ‘This. Here and Now. With You’ has literal lyrics, but not in a bad way, it just wants you to listen to it as is, and know that the love being talked about just wants this, here and now, with you. Although every track covers the same themes, they all do it in a unique way. You get something out of every song off this album.

4:13 Dream takes these themes that are so prevalent in all types of music, but just has fun with it and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The inventiveness of this album allows you to be present with it and simply listen, nothing more, nothing less.

I would take quite the time if I talked about each individual track, so I will do an ode to the opening track ‘Underneath the Stars’ and ‘The Scream,’ which is a song that I learned to love more throughout the years. 

‘Underneath the Stars’ a 6-minute classic-rock-esque song that is reminiscent of classic Cure songs, but also mixes the style of the band’s later works, such as their self-titled (2004) and Bloodflowers (2000). I find a lot of the other tracks do the same thing and I always urge The Cure fans to take a chance on their later works; their classic sound never left. Me boasting about this track is extremely biased since I think I would probably consider it my favourite song of all time. I know that’s even more of a loaded question to music-lovers, and I know you’re reading this thinking I’m crazy for not even hesitating on my answer. But this song truly makes me feel things no other song has done for me, and that is definitely because of my attachment to it as a whole.

The song is romantic and the lyrics on their own make you want to literally sit underneath the stars with the love of your life and think about all the good things. It’s an ode to being present and looking at a sky with 13 billion years of history.

“Underneath the stars

Aligned

For 13 billion years

The view

It's beautiful

And ours alone tonight”

The first two minutes and 30 seconds of this song is instrumental, and at first you sort of yearn for it to actually start, but once you listen to it a couple times you realize how much you enjoy sitting through the build-up. The verses are broken up with more classic-rock guitar parts in between, and don’t even get me started on the bridge. It’s one of those “I need to listen to this song just for this one part.” The build-up both to it and within the bridge ends the song with you wanting more. ‘Underneath the Stars’ is probably the slowest, longest and most serious song on the album and makes for a great opener to set the scene. It tells you how deep the love being talked about runs, while the rest of the tracks are able to keep that message in a less serious, more “fun” way. With that, ‘The Only One’ comes in with a 180, a bright and bouncy second track.

‘The Scream’ is a weird outlier in the album—it’s a track I always overlooked and it’s definitely one of those things you look at differently every time you revisit it, like a movie you rewatch years apart. ‘The Scream’ has a cool grunge-y build up to it, oddly dark but still—you guessed it—playful. It’s paired with sweet sweet Robert Smith screams that blend in with the instruments. It’s the messiest song off the album with the last minute being layered noise, and a fade to quiet as an ending. It’s a great song that represents a lot of authenticity that I love about The Cure. The messy demos off Three Imaginary Boys (1979) are some of my favourite works, and although this song is different from those it reminds me of everything The Cure represents.

4:13 Dream allows you to appreciate and shuffle each track individually in your playlist, but also seamlessly creates a smooth listen from front to back. If you never took a chance on The Cure’s later works, let 4:13 Dream (2008) be your next listen. Whenever I feel a next chapter in my life is coming I put this album on and it allows me to look back and appreciate a lot of things. Whenever I’m sad, happy, or feel too much of one emotion I can always come back to this album and it never fails to make me feel at peace and be present. I’m sure all of you out there can relate and have that one song or album you can put on and know you’ll enjoy. I almost avoid listening to this album too much so I can always appreciate it. 

4:13 Dream by The Cure is authentic, messy, innocent, full of love, and did I even mention the album cover? The art is beautiful and the little dude with undefined features makes me feel things in itself. While this album is no masterpiece of techniques and innovative ideas or melodies, it’s unique and not meant to be anything other than itself, and I think that makes it real. The Cure doesn’t need to prove anything, and 4:13 Dream is a direct example of their art and what they’re so good at.

This was my first piece! I have a lot of favourites I hope to cover through Prototype, so thank you for taking the time to read if you do! I also chose this as my first piece because I would love to review it again down the line as my writing style develops. If you would like to support my work feel free to share the link!