Symphonic ballad will be released on Thursday, ahead of new album Songs of a Lost World which awaits an official announcement

The Cure have announced their first new song in 16 years, entitled Alone, to be released on Thursday.

A post on the band’s social media contains a snippet of the song: a symphonic ballad with heavy drums and lurching electric guitar, with frontman Robert Smith singing: “This is the end of every song that we sing / the fire burned out to ash, the stars grow dim with tears.”