When bands release a new album, it’s not at all unusual for them to spend a year or two touring behind that record, flying around the world to promote and perform the songs they had just recorded while, of course, making longtime fans happy by playing the big hits. A look at The Cure’s biography page, however, shows that the band spent nine years (well, most of those nine years, anyway) playing various concerts and festivals after the release of “4:13 Dream.” That included a headlining slot at the 2009 edition of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — back when it wasn’t an overly commercialized ground zero for every clout-chasing influencer and their cousin.

Aside from all the aforementioned shows, The Cure headlined 19 European summer festivals in 2012, had a stadium tour of South America in 2013 that saw them play their first-ever shows in several countries, and played even more festivals that same year, including Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits in the U.S. It was more of the same in 2014 before they went on break the following year to focus on a “strange assortment of personal projects, unexpected collaborations and ongoing ventures.” In 2016, The Cure went on an extensive world tour, traveling to 22 countries and, as their biography noted, “never playing the same setlist twice.” 

In 2017, The Cure finally took some time out to write new songs and record demos for these tunes, though much of their time in 2017 and 2018 was also spent remixing and remastering albums from their extensive back catalog.