Lol Tolhurst and Budgie have performed a trance-flavoured live version of The Cure’s ‘A Forest’ – check out the footage below.
Tolhurst was a founding member of The Cure, originally playing drums from 1978 to 1982 before switching to keyboards. He played on all of the band’s first eight albums before leaving the band in 1989.
Last year, he released ‘Los Angeles’, a full-length album with Budgie, one of the most acclaimed drummers of the post-punk generation, known for his work with Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Slits and The Creatures. ‘Los Angeles’ was also credited to producer Jacknife Lee, who has worked with U2, R.E.M. and The Killers.
Now, Tolhurst and Budgie have combined on a live version of The Cure’s 1980 classic ‘A Forest’, originally released on their second album ‘Seventeen Seconds’. Watch the video below.
The version, recorded live for the Seattle radio station KEXP, sees Tolhurst’s synth keys take the lead, while disembodied, echo-laden vocals and Budgie’s tight drum patterns give the performance an ethereal atmosphere.
Tolhurst and Budgie’s whole KEXP performance, which also included performances of ‘Los Angeles’, ‘Travel Channel’, ‘Uh Oh’ and ‘We Got To Move’ from the ‘Los Angeles’ album, can be seen below.
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Their album also included appearances from LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, U2’s The Edge, IDLES’ Mark Bowen and Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock.
The duo spoke to NME about the inspiration for the album last year, with Tolhurst explaining the logic of writing about Los Angeles: “I’ve lived out here nearly 30 years, and it’s been a completely different experience for me than others.”
“A lot of people come out to see the glitz and glam or to get discovered, or they could discovered then destroyed or just destroyed. I came out here and found acceptance and love, which I didn’t have before. I found the community I needed to be who I am. The lyrics came back and they were writing about all the different aspects of either living in LA or living through the pandemic. I hate to use the term ‘concept album’ because we threw that away with punk, but there is a concept to it. It’s a story.”
Budgie agreed: “The concept was unexpected and was given to us. From the early days of playing two shows a day for three nights at The Whiskey, then walking back to the Tropicana to get a lift to the ocean, LA has always been this crazy place for m – and a great place to go to start a project.
“It was the place I went after me and The Banshees fell apart, where I could pick myself up.”