Over the past decade or so, Robert Smith of The Cure has done some pretty surprising collaborations. He’s contributed vocals to tracks by Blink 182, Billy Corgan, and Junior Jack, among others. His contribution to a new single by controversial Canadian electronic group Crystal Castles is actually somewhat conventional by Smith’s recent collaborative standards, and is very much worth a listen. The version of “Not In Love” that appeared on Crystal Castles II, released earlier this year, featured nearly inaudible vocals that put the emphasis on the song’s music. However, the just-released single version adds a new vocal track by Robert Smith, placing his voice much higher in the mix. In so doing, it changes the song from a typical dreamy-sounding Crystal Castles track to something a lot closer to an electronic pop song. The off-kilter style that pervades Crystal Castles’ usual work is not something that can be de-emphasized, though; the high, spiking synth notes that project through the song’s chorus like shards of audio glass are still quite striking. In fact, it’s precisely this unusual juxtaposition–Smith’s indelibly New Wave-identified vocals mixed with the jagged edges of Crystal Castles’ somewhat abrasive sound–that makes “Not In Love” work so well. In fact, I’d argue that the version with Smith’s vocals is significantly better than the version that appears on the album, and stands out where the album version blends in amongst the songs surrounding it.
“Not In Love” is not a Crystal Castles original; it’s a cover of a 1983 single by the Canadian group Platinum Blonde. Platinum Blonde had around a dozen top 40 hits in the mid-80s in Canada, but are not very well remembered outside of that country. Due to notorious Canadian laws designed to boost domestic culture, there are many groups, dating especially from the 80s and early 90s, that were quite popular within that country but unheard-of outside its borders. Platinum Blonde is but one of these, and as 80s New Wave groups go, they are not the greatest. It really just sounds like one of the wimpy pseudo-hard rock tunes of the era, only drenched in even more synth than usual. If anything, they are most reminiscent of Gene Loves Jezebel, though whether that band is any better remembered today than Platinum Blonde themselves is an open question. These days, when we hear the phrase “80s New Wave,” we expect something more like New Order or The Human League, and where that sound is concerned, Crystal Castles come much closer to the mark 25-plus years later than Platinum Blonde ever did. For that reason, their cover of “Not In Love,” especially the version with Robert Smith on vocals, seems to improve significantly upon the original.
As mentioned earlier, this Crystal Castles track is only the latest of surprising collaborative efforts in which Robert Smith has participated over the past decade or so. More about some of these collaborations after the jump.
Over the past decade or so, Robert Smith of The Cure has done some pretty surprising collaborations. He’s contributed vocals to tracks by Blink 182, Billy Corgan, and Junior Jack, among others. His contribution to a new single by controversial Canadian electronic group Crystal Castles is actually somewhat conventional by Smith’s recent collaborative standards, and is very much worth a listen. The version of “Not In Love” that appeared on Crystal Castles II, released earlier this year, featured nearly inaudible vocals that put the emphasis on the song’s music. However, the just-released single version adds a new vocal track by Robert Smith, placing his voice much higher in the mix. In so doing, it changes the song from a typical dreamy-sounding Crystal Castles track to something a lot closer to an electronic pop song. The off-kilter style that pervades Crystal Castles’ usual work is not something that can be de-emphasized, though; the high, spiking synth notes that project through the song’s chorus like shards of audio glass are still quite striking. In fact, it’s precisely this unusual juxtaposition–Smith’s indelibly New Wave-identified vocals mixed with the jagged edges of Crystal Castles’ somewhat abrasive sound–that makes “Not In Love” work so well. In fact, I’d argue that the version with Smith’s vocals is significantly better than the version that appears on the album, and stands out where the album version blends in amongst the songs surrounding it.
“Not In Love” is not a Crystal Castles original; it’s a cover of a 1983 single by the Canadian group Platinum Blonde. Platinum Blonde had around a dozen top 40 hits in the mid-80s in Canada, but are not very well remembered outside of that country. Due to notorious Canadian laws designed to boost domestic culture, there are many groups, dating especially from the 80s and early 90s, that were quite popular within that country but unheard-of outside its borders. Platinum Blonde is but one of these, and as 80s New Wave groups go, they are not the greatest. It really just sounds like one of the wimpy pseudo-hard rock tunes of the era, only drenched in even more synth than usual. If anything, they are most reminiscent of Gene Loves Jezebel, though whether that band is any better remembered today than Platinum Blonde themselves is an open question. These days, when we hear the phrase “80s New Wave,” we expect something more like New Order or The Human League, and where that sound is concerned, Crystal Castles come much closer to the mark 25-plus years later than Platinum Blonde ever did. For that reason, their cover of “Not In Love,” especially the version with Robert Smith on vocals, seems to improve significantly upon the original.
As mentioned earlier, this Crystal Castles track is only the latest of surprising collaborative efforts in which Robert Smith has participated over the past decade or so. More about some of these collaborations after the jump.
The first, and perhaps still the weirdest, was with Blink 182 back in 2003, singing lead on their song “All Of This.” It’s a great song, but what really makes it weird is the fact that it sounds more like The Cure than does the self-titled album The Cure themselves released that same year. I’d argue that it’s the best song The Cure have done since Wish (1992), but I can’t, because it isn’t The Cure at all, really.
Later that same year, Smith sang on a house track by Junior Jack called “Da Hype.” Once again, Smith’s vocals were eminently appropriate in a context you’d never expect. Junior Jack’s backing track sounded nothing like anything The Cure had ever done, even at their most synthed-out, but nonetheless, the combination worked.
In 2005, Smith worked with Billy Corgan on a cover of the Bee Gees song “To Love Somebody,” which appeared on Corgan’s solo album The Future Embrace. Smith only contributed backing vocals to this track, with Corgan’s voice dominating the mix, but the dreary, gloomy synthesizer washes that make up the song’s instrumental sound have The Cure written all over them, harking back to the funereal atmosphere of early 80s albums like Faith and Pornography.
Considering all of these collaborations as a whole, what seems clearest is the wide sphere of influence Smith and The Cure’s long-running career has encompassed. From grunge superstars to snotty young pop-punkers to electronic and house musicians, artists from many different genres are equally eager to work with Smith, and all of them seem to create music over which his voice is equally appropriate. This speaks not only to the diverse genres over which Smith’s work has been influential, but also to the essential range and quality of his talent.
