kicking everyone's asses, as usual.

yeah, I've been gone a while, blah blah. but now that I know I have at least one reader, I am inspired anew...

so here's this from NME:

The Cure to release new single each month

The Cure have announced that they will release a new single each month leading up to the release of their 13th studio album in September.

Robert Smith and co will drop the first single from the as-yet untitled album on May 13, and intend to release a different a- and b-side single on the thirteenth of each month until the album is released on September 13.

The first single, 'The Only One', includes the b-side 'NY Trip'. The second single, 'Freakshow' -- due out June 13 -- contains the b-side 'All Kinds Of Stuff'.

Both b-sides are exclusive to the singles and will not appear on the full-length album. They were produced by Smith and Keith Uddin.

The July 13 and August 13 singles will be announced shortly.

The band are set to kick off an extensive US tour in support of the new album beginning May 9, as previously reported.

So after hearing bands like Muse and Smashing Pumpkins 'suggest' that this is how they might do things, The Cure are the first [well, as far as I've heard] to actually do it. I'm very interested to see how this works out, and to see which bands will follow suit. [My money's on the Pumpkins. The odds are pretty good, considering Billy Corgan's massive love for Robert Smith.]
Another interesting trend with singles lately - releasing them for free. Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay have done this already, releasing "Discipline" and "Violet Hill" on their websites, respectively. "Discipline" sports a sexy, catchy groove, but it's nothing you wouldn't expect from Trent Reznor by now, and it's not amazing. "Violet Hill" is more worth your time, featuring pure piano over Pixies-like guitars and a stomping beat.
If nothing else, NIN loses once again in the album art category. Coldplay's might just be the album title splashed in white across Eugene Delacroix’s painting, Liberty Leading the People (strangely enough, as the title was inspired by Frida Kahlo), but it's a hell of a lot more interesting than four black boxes and a red line on grey. Insincere, indeed, my dear Reznor. (No, I'm still not over that.)
We'll see if this catches on, or whether anybody releases something so great it'll create a whole slew of new fans... I definitely want to see where this goes.

p.s. Hi Abby.