Editors (GB)

Source: Wikipeida

Editors are an English rock band, formed in 2002 in Birmingham. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band currently consists of Tom Smith (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Russell Leetch (bass guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals), Ed Lay (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Justin Lockey (lead guitar), Elliott Williams (keys, synthesizers, guitars, and backing vocals), and Benjamin John Power (composer and producer).

Editors have so far released two platinum studio albums, and seven in total, with several million combined sales. Their debut album The Back Room was released in 2005. It contained the hits "Munich" and "Blood" and the following year received a Mercury Prize nomination.

Their follow-up album An End Has a Start went to number 1 in the UK Album Chart in June 2007 and earned the band a Brit Awards nomination for best British Band. It also spawned another Top 10 hit single, "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors". The band's third album, In This Light and on This Evening, was released in October 2009 and went straight to number 1 in the UK Album Chart. The band released their fourth studio album, The Weight of Your Love, in July 2013, followed by self-produced In Dream in October 2015. In 2018, the band released their sixth album Violence. Their seventh album, EBM, was released in September 2022.

Alongside their critical acclaim and strong success in the UK Singles Chart, they consistently enjoyed sold-out tours and numerous headlining festival slots. Their brand of dark indie rock is commonly compared to the sound of bands such as Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division, Interpol, The Chameleons and U2.

Musical style

Editors' own variation of dark indie guitar rock draws on influences from both older and contemporary bands. Their influences include Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division, the Strokes, the Walkmen, Elbow, and R.E.M. The band draw their musical style particularly from the latter two bands' debut albums Asleep in the Back and Murmur. Smith has commented that "we're dark and moody so yeah we build on the sound of the likes of Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Chameleons... Obviously we were too young when these bands came out, so it's only more recently that we discovered them." Upon Editors' first appearances in the British music scene, they were also heavily compared to American indie band Interpol.

Editors' first album, The Back Room, was described as having a wiry and raw sound, which led it to being famously dubbed 'dark disco' by the NME. This sound was created by the use of synthesisers, catchy guitar riffs and simple, ambiguous lyrics. An End Has a Start showed progression to a new 'bigger' sound. This new sound was created by adding more textured layers to the songs as well as incorporating new forms of music into them. These include the adding of a choir in "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" and the inclusion of the sounds of the band playing Hide-and-seek in the song "Spiders".

Lead singer Smith announced that the band would explore a new direction on their next album, pursuing a new, rawer sound. The new sound materialised itself on the third album through the use of traditional synthesisers instead of the band's previous use of guitars. The producer of In This Light and on This Evening, Flood also increased the importance of "vibe" in the music's sound, making it darker than the previous two albums, while also attempting to make the album sound as if it had been recorded live.

While Smith tends to write the lyrics and chords, song writing overall is a collaborative effort. The song writing starts with Smith on the piano or acoustic guitar where he records them and sends them to the other band members where the song is turned into a full 'Editors song'. Smith has said that he purposely makes the lyrics ambiguous so people can draw their own conclusions.

"To us, it's interesting if it has a darkness," said Smith in 2015. "Whatever that is. On the lyric side of things, if I was singing about dancefloors or happier or rosier things, it wouldn't ring true for me. I don't know why that is. People quite often say, 'oh, you write these sad lyrics but you're not a sad person' - and I'm not... I don't think you need to be sad to write a sad song, everybody has a dark side."