Levinhurst

Hot on the heels of last week's Curiosa festival comes Levinhurst (above, right), the new project by erstwhile Cure member Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst. But, in contrast to many of the acts that appeared at Curiosa, don't expect the Cure redux; while Tolhurst was a founding member of Robert Smith's glorified outfit and served in it for twelve years, the drummer/ keyboardist has expanded his repertoire with Perfect Life, Levinhurst's debut. Aided by singer Cindy Levinson and multi-instrumentalist Dayton Border, Tolhurst has tapped into the ethereality of his former group's output but ditched the gloom, channeling deep trip-hop grooves and sunny swathes of electronics into inescapably catchy tunes. Bobbing above it all, Levinson's slinky, slippery vocals are equally charged with edginess and innocence. And while Levinhurst certainly doesn't possess the pop acumen or universal appeal of the Cure, it's infinitely more tasteful and dignified than twenty-year-old layers of Kabuki makeup.