Album Review
Editors – In This Light And On This Evening
By Mayho
Proudly wearing their badge as one of the most lyrically depressing outfits that bless Blighty’s shores, Editors return with their third studio album In This Light And On This Evening.
It’s clear to see the band dubbed ‘Boy Division’ is growing up fast. This time round Tom Smith’s droney like vocals are met with a crescendo of synthesizers and beeps rather than the riffs of guitars that dominated their previous two releases. Having drawn many a comparison to their gloom riddled predecessors Joy Division, it would appear that Editors have taken that as more of a compliment than a slander and have flipped the middle finger to critics by releasing their most Joy Division sounding record to date.
It would have been very easy for Editors to release another despair ridden indie rock canticle for their already large fan base, however as Tom Smith recently declared it would probably have never been finished and could have even destroyed the band in the process – such was the need for change in the Editors camp. Tom clearly isn’t a man who rests on his laurels or wishes to stick to pop formulas – his willingness to change the bands direction and create a new sound rather than stick with the niche they had crafted themselves should be praised for its daringness– something that bands like U2 or Aerosmith failed to even attempt.
It’s difficult to tell when a band changes direction how the masses will swallow it. The fans won over by The Back Room and An End Has A Start’s guitar laden angst will no doubt find themselves feeling a little left out by the new electronic edge that has been created since moving away from Jacknife Lee’s production, however in equal measure it is likely to renew interest in a band that had the distinct possibility of sounding irrelevant at a time when acts like White Lies are coming of age.
Regardless of the change in musical direction, Tom’s lyrics stay as recognisable and dreary as ever and Editors fans will still be treated to lines that make want you to open your own wrists with your teeth - “You’ll get old and die here, you’ll choke, choke on the air you try to breathe” and “If there really was a God here, he’d have raised a hand by now” give the album that unmistakable Editors feel, leading me to believe that as a whole the record could be seen as dipping ones toes into the experimental waters rather than leaping into a whole new sound as some would think – it’s still very much Editors after all.
In This Light And On This Evening disappoints with its mere 9 tracks considering they had originally penned 18, however they do include a bonus CD entitled Cuttings 2 with a further 5 tracks that didn’t feature on the title release. Not all of the tracks are memorable, however the ones they do get right they hit bang on.
‘Bricks And Mortar’ pisses into your eardrum like some Van Damme 80’s movie soundtrack nightmare and ‘The Big Exit’ is a big dissapointment, however the title track and ‘Like Treasure’ seem to show a skill of songwriting that suits Tom’s dark persona perfectly, and although the new sound is certainly not perfected it does seem a natural evolutionary fit. Listening to it through my speakers, I can’t help but feel I would have so much more admiration for their new endeavor if I could hear it in the manner in which it was intended – live and raw.
The last two albums I could quite happily sit and play beginning to end, and although In This Light And On This Evening doesn’t offer the same simple aural pleasure from start to finish, it does offer hope that musicians still want to take risks and evolve rather than stick to generic formulas.
It’s still a number one album and by far their most important to date, but is it their best? Personally I think not, but I now wait with baited breath just to see what one of Britain’s most important bands can think of next.
Rating: 
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