The Cure, 65daysofstatic

Thanks to an endless flood of import singles, live albums and re-releases, it's hard to believe that The Cure's next album, which is due in September, is only the gloom-rockers 13th full-length effort.

Maybe that's 'cause when The Cure does release a disc, Robert Smith and Co. want to make sure the disc is ready. The band had postponed its fall 2007 tour to finish this album, which was originally slated as a double album. The album's release was postponed from the fall of '07 until the following spring and then pushed back yet again to its current date. Oh, and by the way? The still-untitled 13th record won't be a double album after all.

Frustrating to The Cure's fans, for certain. Lucky then, for those fans, that the band announced last month that a new single from the album would be available on the 13th of every month—right up until the album is released. And, actually, the first single "The Only One" jangles along like the poppier tracks off 1992's Wish.

It probably helps that this album marks the return of guitarist Porl Thompson who played guitar on Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and Disintegration. He rejoined the band in 2005 after leaving to play guitar with two schmoes named Page and Plant, and Thompson hasn't toured with the band through Dallas since their 1992 concert at Texas Stadium. Now that he's back, perhaps his band has fully returned to form.