The Cure are set to release live recordings of two new, previously unreleased songs on an environmentally friendly vinyl edition.
Featuring the songs And Nothing Is Forever and I Can Never Say Goodbye, The Cure – Novembre: Live in France 2022 will be released on eco-vinyl on 1 October, with all profits to benefit the climate charity EarthPercent, founded by Brian Eno.
The release is part of the Naked Record Club, which sells limited-edition records made from sustainable vinyl that is estimated to use 80-90% less electricity than traditional steam vinyl pressing machines.
Five thousand copies of the record will be released on 12in, with the first 100 signed by Cure frontman Robert Smith.
In a press release, Eno said: “I’d like to thank the Cure and Naked Record Club – both true innovators – for their generous support of vital climate projects … It’s a powerful example of how the music community can work together to build a better world.”
Naked co-founder Simon Parker said in a statement: “When I bought The Head on the Door back in 1985, the teenage version of myself was shown a different way to live my life … So, when Robert Smith told me he wanted to work with Naked Record Club to raise climate change awareness in the music industry, I was astonished, excited and dumbstruck in equal measures.”
The records are made from non-toxic polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which Naked describe as “the most recyclable plastic in the world” owing to its use in water bottles and packaging. Additionally, the printed label is paperless, while the sleeves are made from sustainable PEFC-certified paper and EPEA-certified inks, as well as being plastic-free.
The cost of making records with PET vinyl is around the same as with traditional PVC vinyl, Parker told the Guardian. “In theory the costs could come down as manufacturing capacity and volumes increase because less energy is used by injection moulding machines and PET is a low-cost product due to it being the world’s most used recyclable plastic.”
And Nothing Is Forever was recorded live in Montpellier and I Can Never Say Goodbye in Toulouse, both in November 2022. The recordings feature Smith on vocals, six-string bass and shaker, Simon Gallup on bass, Jason Cooper on drums, Roger O’Donnell on keys, Reeves Gabrels on guitar and six-string bass and Perry Bamonte on keys.
It is unclear whether the songs will also be released on the long-awaited new Cure album, Songs of a Lost World.
