Roger O’Donnell has spoken to NME about his new solo album ‘Projections’ – made in the wake of his battle with cancer and returning to record with The Cure.
- READ MORE: Robert Smith on the cover: The past, present and future of The Cure
Arriving on O’Donnell’s 70th birthday on Friday October 29, ‘Projections’ marks the keyboardist and composer’s eighth solo album, in the latest of his life of writing scores and other projects away from the limelight of The Cure. The artist explained how this record leans more into his tastes and influences in minimal electronica.
“I did two electronic records in the early 2000s, and I always felt that it wasn’t a completed episode,” O’Donnell told NME. “Two is no good, you have to have three of something. I always felt that there was always another electronic album in there. The first two I recorded entirely using a Moog Voyager, and for this one I gave myself a little bit more space.
“I introduced quite a few more different instruments, but it’s like finishing that era.”
The album also comes after O’Donnell last year shared with fans that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. However, he is happy to reveal that he’s now beaten cancer – enabling him to return to the creative life with gusto.
“After having gone through all the health stuff in 2023-2024, I was determined not to make a record that made a meal out of being ill,” he admitted, “but it was a time for reflection, looking back, looking forward and really restating where I am now as a musician and musically.
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“I feel it really accomplished that. The album has got tinges of everything in it. I can hear influences from everything that I’ve ever been influenced by. I’m very happy with this record, and people seem to like it as well – which is strange!”
Stripped back but warm, ‘Projections’ comes loaded with the feel of a wintry embrace – something O’Donnell was keen to capture while recording.
“It’s definitely a winter record,” he said. “I never go in the studio in the summer. I just like being outside. The summer is always a non-productive time for me, whereas the winter is very evocative, isn’t it?”
O’Donnell – who has been a part of The Cure since 1987 – said that he was very much looking forward to hitting the road with the band in 2026 on their recently announced run of festivals including Isle Of Wight, Primavera Sound in Spain, Norway’s Øya, Rock En Seine in France, Austria’s Nova Rock, and Open’er in Poland, as well as a run of massive outdoor UK and Ireland shows.
Check out our full interview below, where O’Donnell told us about his battle with lymphoma, his hopes of inspiring others with the disease, the design of his new solo project, returning to touring with Robert Smith and co, and the chances of the follow-up of ‘Songs Of A Lost World‘ emerging in the coming months.
NME: Hello Roger. What can you tell us about the mood of ‘Projections’ when first approaching it?
Roger O’Donnell: “It was very much reflecting on what I’d been through. I’d had lymphoma and it was a pretty devastating period. It was just nice to be alive, for one thing! And nice to make music again. During the treatment I was so emotional the whole time that I couldn’t touch an instrument – I would just burst into tears. It was just a nice feeling to be back in the studio and to be able to take a breath and think, ‘OK, I’ve been there, this is where I am and where I’m going’. This record really summed all of that up and felt very natural.”
How are you now?
“I’m fine, thank you! I’m 100 per cent fighting fit. I’m a year out of treatment, I’ve had a couple of blood tests and everything is normal. My haematologist, who was a real rockstar, he said that normally they don’t use the word ‘cure’ in that sort of world, but then he said: ‘I’m going to say we can cure you’.”
Having been through that, what have you learned that you’d like to share with others?
“First of all, if you’ve got any kind of symptoms then go see a doctor. Don’t put it off. I put it off. I felt something at the start of 2023, then we did a whole American tour. I was trying to suppress what I thought it might be, then at the end of the tour I finally gave in and went to see a doctor who told me I had nothing to worry about! Then I went and got a scan on my own and all hell broke loose. For god’s sake: don’t be embarrassed and don’t be scared. They can fix most things these days. The thing they can’t do is wind back time. They can’t go back to a place where they might have been able to do you some good if you’d gone earlier.
“Also, put your faith in modern medicine. It’s an incredible thing. I had some drugs that were like science fiction. They were these things that latch onto cells, break the cells open, and then fire drugs in at a cellular level. It’s just mind-warping what they can do, and it keeps getting better. I’ve been doing some fundraising for Lymphoma Org and they’re on the cutting edge. They’re very close to a cure. We did a fundraiser last week and I have to thank everyone that called in and pledged money because they raised thousands. It’s nice to know that people care about it.”
Did the idea of returning to music give you strength through recovery?
“The amazing thing for me was that after just over a year of being diagnosed, I was back on stage with the lads playing at The Troxy and a couple of things at the BBC. That was very strange – to be back. It gives other people hope.
“When I was in the midst of it all and I was reading that Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 had the same thing, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I’m not on my own’. Jeff Bridges had it too. That’s why I decided to go public with it. It’s a very personal thing and it’s a big decision whether or not you want to make your health public. There are always idiots that are going to turn into something negative. The positives outweigh that. I hope that I did some good and made some people feel better about their diagnosis.”
The diagnosis can seem like an overwhelming black cloud, but it doesn’t have to mean the end…
“No. Usually waiting for the diagnosis is the hardest thing. My partner and I were walking through the house like zombies until we finally got the diagnosis, then you feel like you can actually do something. You can get your head down, get on with the treatment and have an end in sight.”
How does a diagnosis like that change your approach to your work? How does it colour the way you make music and look back upon what you’ve done?
“Music has always been an emotional outlet for me. I live a very happy life, I’m a pretty happy person, and the emotion comes out in the music. I was unable to play while I was going through it because my emotions were at number 11. To sit down at the piano, I would just burst into tears. It was a very difficult period for me emotionally and creatively. As soon as I was over it, it was like the floodgates opened.
“People ask if it changed me as a person. I think in some ways it did. It’s like, what’s your biggest fear: cancer or the mad axe murderer knocking at your door? You open the door and the mad axe murder is standing there, what do you do? You try and talk him out of it. It’s the same with cancer, you just plough into the treatment. I was very involved with my haematologist and was doing my own research.”
Did you enjoy those few shows The Cure played last year all the more?
“It was kind of surreal. All of a sudden I was back into The Cure world, playing on stage to a global audience of thousands and thousands, and it was as if nothing had happened. I turned up at rehearsals and everything was normal. You don’t want to be treated specially or like some kind of weirdo, I didn’t want special treatment. Maybe a few more cups of tea made for me, but it was typical Cure world: get back in there and get on with it.
“It was great to play those shows and realise that I could do it again. At the start of it I said, ‘I’m still really suffering from fatigue’ and Robert said, ‘Don’t worry – we’ll only play for two hours’. Then by the end of rehearsals the set had gone up to three hours! I said, ‘I’m not sure if I can do this’ and he was like, ‘You can have a stool if you want. You might get the sympathy vote’. It was fine and the adrenaline got me through it.”
Are you ready for a heady summer 2026?
“Yes, I’m very ready and happy to be doing festivals. We’ve got a few announced. I love playing festivals and it’s always such a cool tour. It’s not the intensity of normal Cure tour and it’s usually much more of an upbeat show. You get to hang out with other bands, it’s a nice vibe, it’s through the summer, and we get to come home during the week so it’s like a part-time job.”
Is it going to be a full-scale festival tour across all continents?
“I don’t know. They’re trickling the dates out one by one and I don’t know what’s coming next. I know as much as you do. It’s more to do with when the festival tickets go on sale and when they want to announce. It’s like a Christmas gift that keeps on giving.”
Robert is acting as curator for Teenage Cancer Trust in 2026. Does that mean we can expect The Cure to be playing Royal Albert Hall?
“I thought that it was likely, but I don’t know. Maybe he thinks it wouldn’t be right for the band to play there the first year [he’s curating it]. We’ve done it a few times, it’s a cool gig and it’s obviously a cause that’s very close to my heart – a bit too close. We do a lot for those kinds of things. It’s nice that Robert’s been asked to curate that.”
Robert also said he wanted the follow-up to ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ to be finished before the tour. Is that still likely to be the case?
“You’d have to ask him about that. I didn’t know that ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ was finished until he sent the songs to us to learn for the Troxy show! I don’t know what’s going on. I know that Jason [Cooper] did a lot of drum tracks in about April, and there was talk of us getting together to play but I haven’t heard much lately. I think Robert is in one of his very deep creative modes, because he’s pretty quiet at the moment.”
Is it the case where you record your parts then leave Robert to tinker forever?
“Yeah, well hopefully not another 18 years!”
Are you hopeful we’ll get in the coming year or so?
“I would think so. We were all very happily surprised by the success of ‘Songs Of A Lost World’. For it to do what it did after we had that much time away is fantastic. There’s a bar that The Cure never drops below, so it’s always going to be fantastic – it’s just about whether it’s going to be mega or not.”
The Cure will be touring throughout 2026. Visit here for tickets and more information. Roger O’Donnell releases ‘Projections’ on October 29.
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