Strange as Angels

All people of my age have a story with the Cure.

My story? I was at secondary school in the middle of curemania and I wasn’t hooked. Their zany bouncy hits "Close to Me", then "Why Can't I Be You?", didn’t work for me; neither did their appearance. A fan mate made me listen to the whole discography; I liked some stuff, but needed a few years – and the release of Disintegration – to really get into it. On the other hand I wasn’t ready for Pornography, their other major album: it took me more time before I savoured its poisonous darkness, which peopled my loneliness. Not everybody knows what it means to make oneself sick with music – and the benefit you can draw from it.

Marc Collin’s story? We know this quirky cover master – Nouvelle Vague it’s (half) him – is a great admirer of the Cure since he happened upon "A Forest" on the radio in 1982. So this emblematic song finds very naturally here a new interpretation (less remarkable than Nouvelle Vague’s though).

Chrystabell’s story? Although round 10 years younger than the French producer, David Lynch’s muse explains she had revelatory experiences with each of these songs. Otherwise, she was brought up on a diet of Annie Lennox’ voice and you can hear it ("One hundred years", blatant in the end, when backing vocals appear) – and as well in the solo album Midnight Star she’s just released.

Far from a best-of album, the track choice, personal and consistent, covers the whole Cure discography in chronological order. At first, the idea was to make 13 covers for the 13 albums (one per album). Finally, the post-Wish (1992) albums were whisked away, except the second to last ("Lost").
As for the project, Strange as Angels was named after some lyrics contained in "Just Like Heaven", a classic which is the object of a beautiful cover as well, in the music box style.

Genuine gems, all these reappropriations display a very cinematographic atmosphere. The female voice conversion works perfectly, sometimes adding sensual touch in no way inappropriate ("The Walk" in jazzy version). With all due respect to purist-curists, who are certainly going to cry capital offence, I must admit I am probably going to find it a bit hard to listen to the original version of those songs now!

Indeed, this revision puts into perspective all the melodic qualities of Robert Smith’s gang. You have to know that the American model allowed herself no variation in the melodies as sung by Smith; Marc’s arrangements bring them elsewhere. So, the guitar themes are almost systematically dropped ("Friday I'm in Love", "Just Like Heaven", gloomy "One Hundred Years"...), undoubtedly to avoid the simple carbon copy.
Even stronger, not the slightest guitar was present, however it’s cool! Apart from king pianos et synths, you witness a parade of marimbas, harpsichord, kettledrum, strings, and even a theremin...
Note the fabulous transformation of "Friday I'm in Love" and "Three Imaginary Boys" into a waltz. (Because I had tried the exercise myself, on a totally different song, I know this danger, and the lyrics distortion it sometimes imposes.)

Now let’s dream that, thanks to this excellent album, people of other ages have a story with the Cure as well.