Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst is one of the founding memebers of The Cure. Lol and Robert Smith discovered that they shared a similar vision to form a group like the ones that influenced them. This simple inspiration would create one of the most influential, critically-acclaimed and commercially successful groups of modern times: The Cure. From 1978 onward, Lol and The Cure would chart an impressive selection of achievements: Well over 27 million units sold worldwide, extensive touring covering all the continents, 40 Platinum and Gold records in the USA, Europe and Japan; cowriting many of the group's big hits, including "Let's Go To Bed," "The Walk" and "The Caterpillar" and over 20 landmark award-winning music videos. Today, hot new artists ranging from Coldplay to The Rapture and Hot Hot Heat have repeatedly cited The Cure as a major influence. The strident beats/drums of the Cure's masterpiece Pornography and innovative, New Wave keyboard licks he pioneered on classic albums like Head On The Door are now being constantly referenced by throwback bands such as The Faint and Fischerspooner. Upon feeling this resurgence, Lol dove headfirst back into the studio with his new project Levinhurst. Levinhurst is a suave, exotic group comprised of Lol's keyboards, beats, and sonic landscaping against the stirring vocals of Cindy Levinson and intricate musical crafting by Dayton Borders. Cindy's Eurasian lineage adds an ethereal, dreamy feel that incorporates everything from rock, trip-hop, blues and even Middle Eastern ragas. Layer that on top of Lol's mixture of retro keyboard phrases,riffs and colors with Dayton's intriguing instrumental work and the result leaps into the future as much as it acknowledges his past. The resulting album, Perfect Life, covers that gamut quite nicely with a wider musical range than most electro artists attempt to fill. The minimalist approach of "Let's Go" fits nicely with the downbeat sitar-tinged "Sad Man." The Giorgio Moroder-pulsing bassline of "Sorrow" feels just at home near the tribal beats that "More/Mad" devolves into. Add in addictive songwriting and you have an album that will appeal to old Cure fans alongside newcomers to the electro genre. The album is released by Full Contact. "The finished CD, Perfect Life, is easily the most exhilarating project I've been able to work on since the early Cure records," said Lol. "It's amazing to me that The Cure still have this much viability and resonance so many years later," remarked Lol. Levinhurst has just announced its U.S. summer tour! Check out the tour dates section on their Web site for a date near you.
