While You Were Away: The Cure’s Marathon Record Release Show, Ithaca Announce Split, Lauren Mayberry’s Debut LP, And More
Spooky season may be over, but music news never ends. Catch up with what you missed with this week’s edition of While You Were Away. This week: Lauren Mayberry’s debut LP, Ithaca; ‘s breakup, The Cure’s lengthy record release show, and more.
Lady Gaga shares video double feature for “Disease” and “Die With a Smile”
Lady Gaga has shared her new music video for “Disease” with a twist. In what she called a “Halloween double feature,” she also shared a live video of her recent collab with Bruno Mars, “Die With a Smile,” from a performance in Las Vegas.
The “Disease” video, directed by Tanu Muino, sees the singer fighting different versions of herself as she tries to regain control of her deepest fears. Gaga shared the song’s meaning in an Instagram post saying:
“I think a lot about the relationship I have with my own inner demons,” she wrote. “It’s never been easy for me to face how I get seduced by chaos and turmoil. It makes me feel claustrophobic. Disease is about facing that fear, facing myself and my inner darkness, and realizing that sometimes I can’t win or escape the parts of myself that scare me. That I can try and run from them but they are still part of me and I can run and run but eventually I’ll meet that part of myself again, even if only for a moment. Dancing, morphing, running, purging. Again and again, back with myself. This integration is ultimately beautiful to me because it’s mine and I’ve learned to handle it.”
Watch the videos below.
The Cure celebrate new album with three-hour record release show
The Cure‘s first new album in 16 years, Songs of a Lost World, came out this past Friday (Nov. 1). To celebrate, the band played a marathon three-hour record release show at London’s Troxy that was streamed live via YouTube.
The night started with a full performance of the new album followed by a string of hits and fan favorites, like “Just Like Heaven,” “Disintegration,” “Lullaby,” “Lovesong,” and “Pictures of You” to name a few. They surprised fans to deep cuts from their 1980 album Seventeen Seconds in celebration of its 45th anniversary before closing with classics “Friday I’m In Love” and “Boys Don’t Cry.”
Watch the concert in full below.
Lauren Mayberry announces debut album ‘Vicious Creature’
Lauren Mayberry has announced her debut solo album, Vicious Creature, due out December 6th via Island Records. The CHVRCHES frontwoman also shared new single “Crocodile Tears.”
Mayberry said about the album “So much of this process has been an exercise in empowering myself to listen to my own intuition – something I really trained myself out of. That’s ultimately why you start making things – because you felt a feeling, and you wanted to articulate that somehow. I think it was important for me to relearn that kind of independence, and recognize what I bring to any table I choose to sit at.”
Additionally, Mayberry will embark on a 2025 North American tour starting January 28th in San Diego, California. See all the dates here.
Pre-order Vicious Creatures here.
Ithaca is breaking up
London-based metal band Ithaca is calling it quits.
The band broke the news on Instagram noting that there’s no bad blood between them. It’s just time for them to move on.
“Ithaca is coming to an end. This was a huge decision to make, but it’s the right time.
“There’s been no falling out or creative differences, in fact we’re closer than ever, we’re just no longer able to balance our life responsibilities with giving you the standard of art that you deserve, and feel like we’ve fulfilled more than our wildest dreams could have imagined in terms of where this band would take us. Now, we’re ready to put it to rest. We don’t quite have the words yet to describe what this band and all of your support has meant to us; that’ll come over time.”
Before they call it quits, the band will release a new single and play one final headline show in London next year. “The Cremation Party” takes place at the O2 Academy Islington in London. Tickets go on sale, Friday, November 1st.
“… we’d like to cordially invite you to our funeral: our final headline show, The Cremation Party, where we can grieve together. It’ll be a proper wake- there’ll be DJs, us cracking out old songs we’ve not played in years and, inevitably, lots of crying…we’ll see you there. Love always”
Read their full statement below.
Tours on sale this week
Killswitch Engage will head out on tour next year with Kublai Khan TX, Fit for a King, and Frozen Soul. The 27-date tour starts on March 5th in Nashville, Tennessee, and wraps up on April 12th in Portland, Oregon. Tickets are on sale now.
Fontaines D.C. will return to North America next year in support of their new album, Romance. The tour kicks off on April 17th in Seattle, Washington, and runs through May 16th with a show in New York. See all the dates here.
Mysterious rockers Ghost have announced a 2025 world tour. Starting in April, the band will tour in the UK followed by Europe, then the U.S., and will finish in Mexico in September with more dates to come. The tour launches on April 15th in Manchester, UK, and wraps up on September 24th in Mexico City. Get all the details here.
Peter Hook & the Light will perform New Order‘s 2001 album Get Ready in full on their 2025 North American tour. The 13-date trek kicks off in Montreal on May 22nd and wraps up with a show in Miami, Florida on June 14th. Get all the details here.
