The Cure have teased an upcoming announcement with a cryptic social media post that has left fans speculating.
On Friday (April 18), the band posted a pair of images of an iPod sitting in a recording studio, one showing ‘CURE MOALW’ on the back of it and the other showing a playlist of tracks involving the band.
Also included in the post is a 14 second video of mysterious, ambient music, while the post is captioned: “IV-XXI-MMXXV”. That appears to reference the date of April 21, 2025, which presumably will be the day the full announcement arrives. It also happens to be the 66th birthday of frontman Robert Smith.
Ahead of the confirmation of what the announcement could be, fans have been posting their theories online. “04/21/2025 ?!? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN,” reads one reply to the band’s post on X.
IV-XXI-MMXXV pic.twitter.com/QvfD4lu2rI
— The Cure (@thecure) April 18, 2025
Much of the speculation revolves around the relevance of the ‘MOALW’ abbreviation on the back of the iPod, with various X users suggesting “Movie of a Lost World” or “Mixes of a Lost World”. These point to a spin-off from The Cure’s 2024 album ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, their first studio record in 16 years.
“New album!?” reads another reply to the post, while another speculates that it is teasing a new tour from the band. See a range of reactions below.
Make Greatness A Lost World pic.twitter.com/0MC66JIFk9
— David Gilman (@DavidGilmanTV) April 18, 2025
Mixes Of A Lost World, check iPod screen
— James Mcgowan (@mcgowan_mcgowan) April 18, 2025
Intriguing. Is RS teasing some sort of big announcement on his birthday? The bagatelle image on the lower right is giving me Twilight Zone vibes. It reminds me of the classic electronic toy “Lite Brite”. I see “moon” spelled out somewhere on the multi-colored screen with random…
— piggywigee (@piggywigee) April 18, 2025
The annoucement of the new tour on Robert ‘s birthday?
— Ana (@Annabella5264) April 18, 2025
NEW ALBUM!?
— 🖤🕸️Robin/Elise🕸️🖤 (@ALetterToElisez) April 18, 2025
👀 Movie of a Lost World???
— GypsyGothStocking (@goth_gypsy) April 18, 2025
The band have spoken about the possibility of a new album in recent months, telling Radio X that their next body of work “has a couple of songs that we were playing live which didn’t make it onto ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ and it has some completely new stuff that no one’s ever heard.“
“There’s three songs on it, which are slower than pretty much anything on this album,” he added. “So I don’t know, it may well end up being heavier than this one.”
In the same interview, Smith revealed that he is “already finishing” the band’s next album and teased that it can potentially receive a release as early as this summer. He also added that it includes “the saddest song” of their recent batch.
As well as the follow-up to ‘Songs Of A Lost World’, he has also previously said that there’s a third album on the way which is “completely different”. Speaking to Absolute Radio’s Danielle Perry, Smith explained: “It’s really kind of random stuff, like late-night studio stuff. But some of it is really good actually, it’s just very very different.”
‘Songs Of A Lost World’ saw The Cure land a Number One album in the UK for the first time in 32 years, and it earned a five-star review from NME.
It was also included in NME’s list of Best Albums Of The Year, while lead single ‘Alone’ starred in NME’s Best Songs Of 2024. “‘Alone’ ended a 16-year drought and proved The Cure haven’t lost any of their magic. Through swirling synths and cinematic instrumentation, paired with Robert Smith’s poignant lyricism and melodies, this epic is a masterwork of ethereal beauty and raw emotional depth,” the latter read. “One of their most captivating songs to date.”
Elsewhere, Smith has been announced as the curator for the 2026 edition of the Teenage Cancer Trust gig series, replacing The Who’s Roger Daltrey.
