A Reflection - Ashley Dayour (Whispers in the Shadow) [EN]
‘A Reflection’, my space that with the support of Hispacure, the Official Fan Collective of The Cure in Spain, I ask artists and cultural agents to tell me about their favorite songs and albums of The Cure.
Ashley Dayour is a Viennese musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist for the band Whispers in the Shadow since 1996. He is also a multi-instrumentalist for The Devil & The Universe since 2013. Photo by Werner Nowak.
A REFLECTION - ASHLEY DAYOUR
I've known The Cure's music for almost 31 years and as many good things in life, it happened by pure chance..
I came across them in one of those teen magazines, used to buy these back in the day because well I was a teenage boy obviously. In there was a 2-page article about a band I haven’t heard of before. It was a review about a The Cure live show in Germany 1990 (Pleasure Trips Tour).
The thing that first hit a chord was their look. I was totally in awe how they and also their fans looked like. Like some extras out of a horror movie. I had no idea of Goth but this kind of look appealed to me because it was so different to anything else I’ve known. You must know since a little kid I was drawn to all things darker, off-kilter and a bit morbid. I mean I watched my very first horror movie by the age of 6 for Christ’s sake. ('The Fog' by John Carpenter).
However, I went straight to my brother, because he was the guy to go to when it comes to music, and I asked him if he ever heard of this weird looking English band. His answer was: “Yeah I think they are some sort of heavy metal band, you wouldn’t like it”. Obviously, this time he had no clue. Remember it was the early 90’s there was no internet to turn on and just listen what’s on Spotify. Then another week or two passed and he came into my room, “Come quick The Cure are on MTV”. And there I sat with open ears and eyes and had my very first The Cure experience. I was pretty stunned. Funnily enough I can’t remember exactly which video / song it was, either “Lullaby” or “Boys Don’t Cry” or maybe even “Just Like Heaven”.
Fast forward a couple of months, for Christmas my brother gave me my very first The Cure album. It was the then newly released “Mixed Up”. Over next months I bought all the other albums and that’s that. Many more Cure moments did follow. Including many great (and a very few not so great) live shows I attended over the years.
I can't decide on a favorite period of The Cure in particular. What I actually like most about the band is their diversity. The Cure can be anything, the funniest, the darkest, the weirdest, the most romantic, and, in their own way the heaviest band on earth. That’s why I love them, because they really made the most of everything they did, and they did it in their terms and how they seemed fit.
The real legacy of the band is that they showed others you can do it your way, be weird and you can eventually succeed, you don’t necessarily have to play it safe and certainly don’t have to play it by the books. I think that inspired a lot of bands and people. Certainly, me and a lot of people of my generation.
Having said all that, of course my faves are the darker ones, 'Pornography', 'Faith', 'Disintegration'. But I really have developed a thing for the more rockish Cure. That’s why I actually like their 2004 self-titled album a lot because it is in parts really guitar heavy. Also, I must mention the more psychedelic stuff which I’m really drawn to these days, you know stuff like “Like Cockatoos”, “Snakepit”, “Wailing Wall”.
My favorite songs and albums change from time to time. But the big 3 I already mentioned above. However these days I like to spin their last 2 albums a lot 'The Cure' (2004) and '4:13 Dream' (2008). They do have their flaws yes, but they are still very good albums.
It’s still pretty summerish here, but when Autumn will hit, I will certainly pick up on “Faith” again. There is no better autumn album.
Not a Cure album as such, but I have to hold a flag for Smiths project from 1983 The Glove, the one he did with Steven Severin from the Banshees and Jeanette Landray. For me it’s one of the best things he’s ever done. A psychedelic masterpiece.
Some of my favourite songs:
'One Hundred Years'
'Shake Dog Shake'
'Jupiter Crash'
'Want'
'All Cats Are Grey'
'Last Dance'
'Fascination Street'
'It Can Never Be The Same'
The Cure's music conveys pure emotion to me. The Cure is one of the most emotional bands you can listen to and it speaks to a certain kind of audience. Not the cool cynics you will find in the entourage of other bands from that era. It’s music for slightly dreamy weirdos, the uncool ones who are sitting in the corner of the party. Which is where you will find me most of the time. At least before the first couple of drinks that is. After that, I might even try a dance or two when “The Walk” comes on. Ok that’s very rarely these days to be honest, but it might happen again, sometime.
Song ‘Back To The Wound’ -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOuLZ77wnw
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Interview publication, October 20, 2021
