The cult English band The Cure have released their first single in 16 years as the opening track of a new album. Both the video of the song Alone and the cover of the Songs of a Lost World album feature a sculpture by Slovenian artist Janez Pirnat (1932-2021).

The black-and-white video of the new single shows a spinning 1975 sculpture by Pirnat called Bagatelle, which is also featured in the artwork of the new album, to be released on 1 November via Lost Music Limited.

According to media reports, the artwork was designed by Andy Vella based on a concept by Robert Smith, The Cure's frontman, who knows Pirnat's work very well.

The Ljubljana-born sculptor spent the last ten years of his life on the Croatian island of Brač with his sculptor wife Sandra Nejašmić Pirnat. He added her surname to his when he married her.

Since his death, an event called Days of Janez Pirnat Nejašmić has been held there in tribute to the sculptor. According to the Croatian news portal Tportal, Smith has been the event's sponsor for the past two years.

Pirnat Nejašmić left behind an extensive oeuvre of sculptures, both public and small ones. His sculptures, which appear as if unfinished, can be found in many parts of Slovenia and Croatia. He also made drawings and prints.

"I am a Stone Age man, a stonemason, in love with everything old, as old as possible," he once said of himself.