Robert Smith doesn't really want to put out '4:14 Scream,' says 'I don't feel a strong urge to beat people over the head with new stuff'

Last month, we reported that The Cure would release 4:14 Scream, a series of unreleased songs recorded more than six years ago to follow-up to 2008's 4:13 Dream. Frontman Robert Smith now tells XFM (via Consequence of Sound) that he's not fully on board with the release, adding that the band is in "a weird kind of predicament."

"I've finished singing and mixing an album that was made by a band that no longer exists," he explains. "So I'm trying to be convinced that I should release what is the second half of an album that effectively came out in 2008. It's a bit of a sore point, to be honest."

Smith said that his work on a separate album with the band's current lineup is taking priority, seeing as 4:14 Scream is "not really new" but rather "I just never sang it. I couldn't be bothered. I didn't think the words were good enough, but I've rewritten it."

If Smith does decide to release the album, he says it will "probably come out in that summer 'dead air' period for albums" and likely be released on Fiction Records, which was the band's home from 1978 to 2000.

On reuniting with Fiction, Smith says, "It seems like a nice way of squaring the circle. It's an album that is really different to anything else we've done. People who want to hear it will hear it, and those that don't, don't. They'll just keep dancing to Close To Me and Love Cats."

However, Smith clarifies that nothing is official. "I have no idea. I'm very bad at planning long term. I'm at an age where I'm enjoying what I'm doing. I don't feel such as strong urge to beat people over the head with new stuff."

The Cure recently performed two consecutive nights at London's Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit. Their next scheduled show is Napa Valley's Bottlerock Music Festival in May. After that, however, they probably won't play again until September.

Do you agree with Smith? Should his priority be the band's current lineup or does he owe it to fans to complete the unreleased record? Let us know in the comments section below!

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The Cure