Alone (The Cure song)

"Alone" is a song by the English rock band the Cure from their fourteenth studio album, Songs of a Lost World (2024). Robert Smith wrote the song in 2019 after he rediscovered the Ernest Dowson poem "Dregs" in his journal and adopted its imagery. It is a gothic rock song that features drums, guitar, synthesisers, and piano. It begins with three minutes and twenty-one seconds of instrumentals, before Smith sings; music critics opined that the song's lyrical themes include mortality and environmentalism. The track was produced by Smith and Paul Corkett.

"Alone" first appeared during live performances as part of the band's 2022–2023 Shows of a Lost World tour. It was released as the lead single for Songs of a Lost World on 26 September 2024, being the first new material that the band released since their previous studio album 4:13 Dream (2008). "Alone" received strong reviews from critics, with particular praise towards its atmosphere, its placement as the album's opening track, and Smith's vocal performance. It peaked at number six on the UK Singles Sales Chart, and charted in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Many publications included "Alone" in their lists of the best songs of 2024. It won Best Alternative Music Performance at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in 2026.

After the release of 4:13 Dream in 2008, the Cure prioritised touring in the 2010s instead of recording and releasing new music.^[1] The band initially announced in early 2014 that their next studio album, a follow-up to 4:13 Dream titled 4:14 Scream, would be released later that year. However, the album was never released.^[1][2] Similarly, the band considered creating a new album to commemorate their 40th anniversary in 2018; however, it never materialised.^[3] In 2019, the band once again began recording new music, under the working title Live From the Moon. The tracks created during these sessions became Songs of a Lost World.^[3][4]

According to Smith, "Alone" was written when he looked through a journal where he collected "interesting" rhymes and phrases. He rediscovered "Dregs", a poem by Ernest Dowson, inside it, and took inspiration from its imagery.^[5][6] Smith later recalled that "Alone" was the track which established the record's themes, saying that he was merely searching for the "right opening line for the right opening song".^[5]

"Alone" has a length of six minutes and forty-eight seconds.^[7] According to Universal Music Publishing Group's digital sheet music of the track, "Alone" is in the key of A minor, is in common time, and runs at a moderately fast tempo of 100 beats per minute.^[8] The track begins with three minutes and twenty-one seconds of dark instrumentals before Smith begins to sing.^[9] The song features prominent drums, distorted guitar, orchestral synthesisers,^[9] and a triplet pattern played on piano and guitar.^[4] The Telegraph's Neil McCormick described "Alone" as "the most Goth song ever made", citing its Wall of Sound approach;^[10] Mark Beaumont of The Independent compared the track to nu-shoegaze due to its "warping" sound.^[11]

Andrew Trendell of NME wrote that "Alone" was more similar to the band's "cinematic and expansive" output than their pop-leaning songs.^[12] Smith stated that Songs of a Lost World's soundscapes harkened back to the band's work on Disintegration (1989).^[13] Music critics widely agreed with this comparison for "Alone";^[a] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian and Michael Bonner of Uncut specifically compared it to Disintegration's opening track "Plainsong".^[22][23] Critics added that the song resembled tracks on Pornography (1982)^[17][18][22] and Bloodflowers (2000).^[18][21][23] Additionally, both McCormick and Variety's A.D. Amorosi compared "Alone" to works by David Bowie; the former described the song as a Berlin Trilogy track being "waterboarded with buckets of oil", whereas the latter likened the song's instrumental introduction to "Blackstar".^[10][24]

Lyrically, "Alone" borrows imagery from the Ernest Dowson poem "Dregs", and adds references to plummeting birds and dashed dreams.^[22] Petridis wrote that themes of mortality permeated "Alone". He linked this to the deaths of Smith's parents and older brother during the recording process of Songs for a Lost World.^[22] Sam Walker-Smart of Clash similarly suggested that those deaths, alongside Smith's curation of the 2018 Meltdown festival, allowed him to "tap into that deep well of emotion and creativity from which The Cure has built their legacy".^[21] Alex Burrows of Classic Rock saw themes of environmentalism in "Alone", writing that the song laments the inability for humans to prevent Earth's destruction.^[25] Beats Per Minute's Todd Dedman concurred that the track focuses on both death and the environment, and further suggested themes of friendships and time.^[26]

On 6 October 2022, the Cure debuted "Alone" live in Riga during the first performance of Shows of a Lost World, the band's concert tour in support of Songs of a Lost World. It was the first song played during every show of that tour.^[27][28] The band posted an 18-second preview of the track to their social media on 23 September 2024. Three days later, the full track premiered at noon on BBC Radio 6 during Mary Anne Hobbs's show and was released as a single; it was the band's first new song since 2008.^[29][30] Remixes of "Alone", created by Four Tet, Shanti Celeste, and Ex-Easter Island Head, were released on 13 June 2025 as part of Mixes of a Lost World.^[31] The Four Tet remix of "Alone" was previously released in the United Kingdom as an exclusive twelve-inch single for Record Store Day on 12 April.^[32]

In the United Kingdom, "Alone" reached No. 6 on the Singles Sales chart and No. 26 on the Singles Downloads chart.^[33][34] The song charted in the United States on the Alternative Digital Song Sales and Rock Digital Song Sales charts at No. 10 and No. 15, respectively.^[35][36] It also reached No. 22 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart, and No. 31 on the Australia Digital Tracks chart.^[37][38]

On initial release, "Alone" received critical acclaim from music critics for its melancholic atmosphere and for Smith's vocal performance. Alison Ross of PopMatters called it one of the band's "most devastating" songs, writing that it was "raw and visceral yet infused with celestial gravity".^[18] McCormick similarly described the song as "gripping" despite its sorrowful mood,^[10] and The Irish Times's Ed Power compared "Alone" to a "huge aching sigh" in that it elicited comfort through its darkness.^[17] Both Will Hodgkinson of The Times and Walker-Smith remarked that Smith's performance remained unusually youthful despite his age; the former said that the track reflected the band's allure of being "locked within eternal youth", and the latter called it among the band's best works since the early 1990s.^[9][21] Petridis concurred that Smith's voice changed little from his earlier output; however, he commented that Smith nonetheless "sounds very different indeed", having strayed from the earlier, nihilistic attitude towards death he portrayed in songs like "One Hundred Years".^[22] Various publications listed "Alone" in their lists of that week's best songs: Consequence, where Jonah Krueger praised its production despite writing that the band was retreading its past sounds and themes;^[39] Stereogum, where Tom Breihan opined that it was both ambitious and elegant;^[14] Under the Radar, where Mark Redfern stated that there was "no other choice" for the best song of the week;^[40] and Uproxx, which included "Alone" in a list of that week's best indie music.^[41]

"Alone" continued to receive acclaim after the release of Songs of a Lost World. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield called it the band's "tour de force",^[42] and The Skinny's Lewis Wade listed "Alone" as a standout on the record, alongside "And Nothing is Forever".^[20] Ben Cardew of Pitchfork, Lewie Parkinson-Jones of Slant, and Dom Gourlay of Under the Radar all described the track as "epic" in their reviews of the album, giving particular praise towards its dramatic instrumentation.^[43][44][45] In contrast, Dedman lauded the song for its intimacy in spite of its grandiose themes.^[26] Several critics praised its placement as the album's opening track.^[16][46] Paste's Elise Soutar stated that the track "serve[d] the same purpose" as the lead single and as the album's opening track, through how it "crack[ed] open a desolate sonic sky".^[47] Gourlay called "Alone" the band's "most quintessential entrée" since "Plainsong"; Mark Richardson of The Wall Street Journal commented that "Alone" followed the tradition exemplified by "Plainsong" of the band beginning their albums with long instrumental sections.^[48] Additionally, critics wrote of similarities between the sounds and lyrical themes of "Alone" and "Endsong", the final track on Songs of a Lost World.^[49][50][51] In his ranking of Songs of a Lost World, Al Shipley of Billboard placed "Alone" at No. five (out of eight); he wrote that the track did not sound like a lead single, yet proved the record as a whole would appeal to fans over chasing radio success.^[4]

Music critics have included "Alone" in their rankings of the band's best songs. Petridis placed it at No. 13 on his list of the band's 20 greatest songs, praising it as a "triumph" for its intensity and sentimentality.^[52] Clash's writers included "Alone" in their unranked list of the band's 15 best songs, with Robin Murray commending the Cure for being "in full control of their artistry".^[53] The staff of Mojo ranked it at No. 29 in their list of the band's 30 greatest songs, declaring it a strong comeback for the band.^[54]

Many publications included "Alone" in their lists of the best songs of 2024. In addition, "Alone" won Best Alternative Music Performance during the 68th Annual Grammy Awards in 2026.^[55]

Credits are adapted from Apple Music.^[7]

• Robert Smith – guitar, vocals, keyboards, bass, songwriter, producer, mixing engineer, assistant recording engineer
• Simon Gallup – bass
• Jason Cooper – drums, percussion
• Roger O'Donnell – keyboards
• Reeves Gabrels – guitar

• Paul Corkett – producer, mixing engineer, recording engineer
• Matt Colton – mastering engineer
• Bunny Lake – assistant recording engineer
• Jack Boston – assistant recording engineer
• Joe Jones – assistant recording engineer

• "Keeping the Faith". Uncut. December 2024. pp. 102–113. Archived from the original on 28 December 2025. Retrieved 28 December 2025.