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Sometimes light comes from out of the darkness. As their band name suggests, Editors have changed things up, not content to stay in one place, reinventing themselves yet again. Their 3rd album length offering titled In This Light and On This Evening was released October 12 in the UK and shot straight to #1 in its debut week. One of my friends is a huge Editors fan. But I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never been a big fan of Tom Smith’s husky voice.
However, upon hearing the first single from the album, the wonderfully synthtastic “Papillon,” I decided their new sound warranted more of my attention. In This Light and On This Evening was produced by London-based Flood (aka Mark Ellis), who has also recently worked with 30 Seconds to Mars. The band also made a concerted attempt to go back to basics, to keep as raw of a sound as possible while recording this album, so if you’re a proponent of the “warts and all” style of music production, you’re going to like this. Similar to what fellow Englishmen Keane did in 2008 with Perfect Symmetry, Editors decided on their third outing to incorporate synthesizers heavily into their music and rely less on guitars. And just like there was for Perfect Symmetry , there are plenty of critics of this new “version” of Editors, the kind of people who think any band to use synths so prominently in rock music is committing heresy.
In my eyes, synths are a welcome addition to any song, provided the song written with their use in mind has a direction, with strong melody and lyrics. (Deep down, I’ll always be an ’80s new wave / electropop / dance fanatic at heart. This also probably explains why, unlike those who have reviewed the album before me, I’m not put off by Editors’ spin on retro electronica.) In the case of In This Light and On This Evening, the synth action is fab and adds rather than detracts from these songs. The album starts off with the part hymnal / part dirge title track, Smith’s vocals darkly avuncular and somewhat frightening. He could be your worst nightmare. Or your savior. When he sings, “I swear to God / in this light and on this evening / London’s become / the most beautiful thing I’ve seen” and mentions the Fleet Road (near Hampstead Heath, North London), this Anglophile knows everything’s going all right. For those of you like me who love (and miss) London Town a whole lot, the band “hacked” into Google Maps and you can take their virtual street view tour of London with the album as your soundtrack. “You’re a long way from home,” indeed. Sigh.
“You Don’t Know Love” is one hell of a sexy number, with lyrics of “You don’t know love like you used to / you don’t feel love like you did before” and wicked beats from drummer Ed Lay. Yowza. Who ever said synth rock had no emotion? (Just please don’t ask me to even try to explain the music video for the song that premiered December 16 on MySpace.) “The Big Exit,” with Smith’s semi-falsetto and the rest of the band repeating the phrase, “they took what once was ours,” is chilling. I also really like “The Boxer;” it’s a bit slower, but warm and cozy as if your mother was tucking you in at night. Not exactly what you’d expect from its title.
And for the biggest surprise: who would have guessed a tune named “Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool” would have such a crazily infectious, repetitive chorus (“I give a little to you / I give a little to him / I give a little to her / a little bit to myself/ I’m gonna pass on your health / I give a little to her“)? You have to hear it to believe it. I’m stoked Editors are headed this way in two months and I’ll get to see hear all of these up close and personal.
Track Listing:
01. In This Light and On This Evening
02. Bricks and Mortar
03. Papillon
04. You Don’t Know Love
05. The Big Exit
06. The Boxer
07. Like Treasure
08. Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
09. Walk the Fleet Road
In This Light and On This Evening drops in America on January 19, 2010. You can catch Editors on their North American headlining tour in February.
Tour Dates
Feb 05 – Showbox at the Market / Seattle
Feb 06 – Commodore Ballroom / Vancouver
Feb 08 – Warfield Theatre / San Francisco
Feb 09 – House of Blues / San Diego
Feb 11 – Wiltern / Los Angeles
Feb 13 – Ogden Theatre / Denver
Feb 15 – Vic Theatre / Chicago
Feb 16 – Phoenix Concert Theatre / Toronto
Feb 18 – House of Blues / Boston
Feb 19 – Terminal 5 / New York City
Feb 20 – Trocadero / Philadelphia
Feb 21 – 9:30 Club / Washington, DC
Editors: website | myspace | Editors Announce February North American Tour Dates
Lovely piece.
Small note, though: the synths on the album are played mainly (though not exclusively) by Chris Urbwanowicz, not Tom Smith.
hey, i’ve been listening to this album since it came out. i’m NOT a fan at ALL of 80’s rave, electropop etc and i loved their older stuff so was initially a little perturbed by the new direction, but i really came to appreciate it! yay!