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On October 12 Editors return with their third album 'In This Light and On This Morning'. Like many bands this year the band have undergone a transformation and come out the other side with a new sound. The album is a departure from the guitar led 'The Back Room' and 'An End Has A Start' and sounds fresh and reinvigorated.
Read on for our initial thoughts on all nine tracks on the album.
'In This Light and On This Evening'
The record starts with a hushed, almost spoken word vocal from Tom Smith who holds an imposing presence of the entirety of the album. Sharp stabs of music soon crash the relaxed atmosphere however, before a wiry synth line permeates throughout the rest of the song. Straight away you are aware that this is not just another Editors album, the past has been erased and this is the sound of Editors Mk:2. Despite sounding far removed from earlier material such a 'Munich' or 'Bullets' there is a definite lineage in the music they band were making and what they now sound like.
'Bricks and Mortar'
This is reminiscent of The Horrors 'Sea Within A Sea', and therefore Neu! A metronomic beat ticks away in the background whilst Tom Smith lays his typically vague lyrics over the top, this time saying things like “Give a dog a bone”. Everything in this track feels very clean and collected, it is no great surprise the arrangements are so great on this album - Editors all met at University studying Music Technology. A chamber choir join in on the middle eight of this second track and elevate things to heavenly.
'Papillon'
Fans will already know this track - the lead single from the album. Backed by a disco stomp this is the most direct and dance orientated track on the album and benefits greatly from a deliciously distorted bass line. The album edit of 'Papillon' is extended at the end and sees Tom Smith almost get lost in the intensity of the music before bringing it back around for one final blast of the chorus - an epic track and a definite album highlight.
'You Don't Know Love'
By this point it strikes you just how absent the guitars are on this album, so far there have been literally no traces of six strings in the slightest. This fourth track is a suitably itchy and tense insight into the bands psyche and sees vocals about the CIA, electioneering 'praying on fear'. The whole thing has a claustrophobic feel before a being smashed wide open by, you guessed it, a guitar solo.
'The Big Exit'
Guitars make another brief appearance here with jagged buzzsaw riffs ringing out over another processed drum beat. For the first time Tom Smith drops his deep baritone vocals and instead he shows off a sweet falsetto that makes him sound vulnerable and natural for the first time. Alongside 'Papillon' this is one of the best songs on the album and ends in a suitably grandiose fashion with a tidal wave of synths creating a cape of doom covering the whole song. Not for the first, or last, time the cavernous drums stand proud above everything else.
'The Boxer'
Presumably the title is an ode to The National, a band Editors have spoken of admiring in the past. This time the deep, booming vocals are back with a minimal electronic piano tapping lightly in the background. There is a great moment when Tom Smith audibly breathes in, somehow it conveys more feeling than any lyrics or melodies ever could. This song always feels like it is building to a crescendo but nothing spectacular ever comes. There still remains a feeling that things could and indeed should explode at any moment.
'Like Treasure'
“Love is testing,” sings Tom Smith and in all honesty so is this track. The same beat and same delivery as much that has preceded accompany a plodding melody and represents the point at which Editors really need to give the album a shot in the arm.
'Eat Raw Meat= Blood Drool'
For a song with such a ridiculous title there is little humour on display here, however, there is a rallying of the troops feel and a more disintegrated and distorted feel to this penultimate track. A theme of 'In This Light...' seems to be lies and liars and yet again this is covered here. Lines such as “Talent in your lies” ring out before a shout of “Get fucked!” cuts through the crowd and makes itself abundantly clear. Whilst this doesn't quite live up to it's ostentatious title it remains one of the best songs on display here and a possible future single.
'Walk The Fleet Road'
Coming to an end at a mere nine tracks is not necessarily an issue here. 'In This Morning...' feels complete and succinct in a well rounded fashion. This final song has echoes of Spiritualized in its scope and depth but is also most reminiscent of Editors older material. Sounding somewhere between a laboratory and a hospital ward this could be the sound of Ian Curtis' spirit exiting his body and floating heavenwards. Beautiful and tranquil it's a great ending to the record.
'In This Light and On This Morning' is released on October 12.
