The Essence

Despite frequent assumptions to the contrary, the Dutch ensemble the Essence shares no hidden ties with the Cure and includes none of its members, though the two acts share a pronounced sonic resemblance. Whenever one of the Essence's tracks receives airplay or spins in a club setting, this likeness routinely sparks mistaken identities. Frontman Hans Diener, who contributes voice, guitar, synthesizer, and piano, matches Robert Smith's vocal timbre so closely that tracks such as "The Cat" and "A Mirage" faithfully recreate the Cure's dense, swirling guitar layers. Diener launched the Essence in 1984 together with Jeroen 'Jerry' Geertsma on bass and Olaf Willemsen on drums, and the band issued its debut album, Purity, the next year. The single "A Mirage" reached the Top Ten in Spain during 1987, after which the group embarked on a European tour. Although the Essence never attained the Cure's level of recognition in America, albums including A Monument of Trust and Ecstasy cultivated a devoted audience, above all among goth rock listeners. Cherry Red Records assembled the band's signature material on the 1994 compilation Dancing in the Rain -- The Best of the Essence. The Spanish outfit Esquema delivered a cover of "A Mirage" in 1995 that again became a major success in Spain. Commonly regarded as an '80s act, the Essence nevertheless maintained activity through the following decade, releasing Nothing Lasts Forever in 1991 and Glow in 1995.