The Cure announce brand-new single Alone from long-awaited album Songs Of A Lost World

The Cure have announced the first single from their forthcoming new album, Songs Of A Lost World, will debut this week. 

Endings months - if not years - of speculation, Alone will officially drop September 26, and will receive its first play on Mary Anne Hobbs's BBC Radio 6Music show, where fans can also expect Robert Smith and co. to reveal for news about their first album in 16 years. 

One of the most influential British bands of all time, The Cure (fronted by Robert Smith) last released a proper album in 2008, 4:13 Dream, and plans for a follow-up have been in flux ever since. 

Long-awaited and now at almost mythical status, Smith has talked openly about Songs Of A Lost World for at least four years, but the album seems to have existed in a state of flux, with various conflicting reports about its completion.

See the artwork for The Cure's new single Alone below

But now, with the release of its first single, things seem to be moving apace. 

The Cure were last present in the Top 40 of the Official Singles Chart in 2004 with The End of the World and Taking Off, which peaked at Number 25 and Number 39 respectively.

Overall, the group have claimed four UK Top 10 singles and 12 UK Top 10 albums. They have only reached the pinnacle of the Official Albums Chart once; with 1992's Wish, their most commercial-facing pop record, which contained perhaps their best known track, Friday I'm In Love (Number 6 peak on the Official Singles Chart).

Across a career now spanning over 40 years, The Cure have been known for their evolving style and sound, from morose, dark goth-pop, to New Wave and more contemporary pop leanings. They've been named as important influences on rock bands, such as Korn and My Bloody Valentine, as well as being referenced and samples by pop stars like Rihanna (S&M contains an interpolation of 1982's Let's Go To Bed) and Yungblud (who got direct permission from Robert Smitht to sample Close To Me).

Alone by The Cure drops September 26 via Fiction/Polydor.

Image: Scott Legato/Getty Images