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Editors – In This Light & On This Evening Review
Posted on November 3rd, 2009
Editors – In This Light And On This Evening (CD 2009) ****
Editors announced themselves in 2005 by telling us that all sparks burn out in the end. On the evidence of this their ‘difficult’ third offering, Tom Smith’s creative spark is burning brightly and showing no signs of being extinguished. He’s made difficult look easy.
The driving anthemic sound of the first two albums has been stripped back; the soaring guitars largely replaced by moody synths; this evolved sound providing a haunting electronic platform for Smith’s distinctive vocals. The Joy Division comparisons are inevitable but off the mark.
The influences run like blood through all nine songs but to compare Editors to any particular one would be unfair. The electro synth hooks and goth-like melodies give a film score texture to most songs. There’s a definite eighties feel but, with the help of producer Flood, they have managed to drag the eighties into the noughties.
It is by no means the most consistent album you will hear but when they get it right it is majestic. From the dark electro pulsing of the opening title track, through to the funereal closing song ‘Walk The Fleet Road’, the peaks in between far outnumber the troughs.
The magnificent You Don’t Know Love begins like ABC and half way through explodes into an assault of guitars and keyboard riffs. The dodgy title of ‘Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool’ belies a great pop song; the best they’ve written according to Smith. The single Papillon gives us some Depeche Mode style pop and the memorable lyric “it kicks like a sleep twitch”. Wonderful.
It won’t be to everybody’s liking; they will probably lose fans as they collect new ones. There is no denying it is a brave direction and you should give it a chance.
In This Light is a triumph and major musical step forward. Editors are finding their voice.
Tags: Editors, In This Light And On This Evening, Review
Filed under Music, Review In A Few |
[...] Editors’ most recent album harks back to 80’s synths and music from movies, and the majesty of these tunes is laid bare “in the flesh”. In This Light & On This Evening, You Don’t Know Love, The Big Exit, Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool – each one sounds like a masterpiece tonight, building and switching pace, kicking like a sleep twitch. Papillon is predictably saved for the encore (along with Bricks & Mortar) and almost takes the roof off. [...]