“Lovely to see you again. Hope you’re doing okay.” Those were the first quiet words of hello from Editors’s Tom Smith to the crowd at the sold-out 9:30 Club Sunday night. That may have been a tentative introduction but the band’s performance was anything but tentative. They played a nearly 2-hour set to an audience of adoring fans in love with their old hits like ‘Munich’ and “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ as well as the synthy goodness of newer tracks like ‘Papillon’ and my personal favourite off ‘In This Light and On This Evening’ (released last year), ‘You Don’t Know Love.’

It was really interesting to watch the contrast of material from their first two albums made with traditional rock band instruments against the new songs, heavy on synths. The best moment of the night for me was ‘Bricks and Mortar’, watching lead guitarist Chris Urbanowicz leave his guitar behind for a moment to plug away at a synth, with Smith following not far behind to join him so they were pressing buttons feverishly in tandem. Electropop awesome sauce.

Joining the dark princes of English indie rock on this tour were the Dig, a rock ‘n’ roll quartet and the Antlers, a more fuzzed out, dream / experimental pop band. Of the two, I preferred the Dig, because they played straightforward, feel good guitar rock that isn’t showing up on American radio stations as it should. Songs like ‘You’re Already Gone’ and ‘I Just Want to Talk to You’ point to exactly what is wrong with most rock music today. It’s missing bands like this that make exciting but not over the top rock ‘n’ roll. The Dig is set to self-release their debut album ‘Electric Toys’ in America in late April.

MP3: The Dig – You\'re Already Gone

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But it’s not like the Antlers really needed my endorsement anyway. The Brooklyn trio have a definite following in Britain, with their early March gigs at London’s Union Chapel and Brighton’s Hanbury Ballrooms already sold out. Songs from last year’s ‘Hospice’ are brooding pieces for the thinking man, somewhat challenging for the average pop music fan but worth the time seeking out if what you’re after is thoughtful lyrics with an interesting instrumental backdrop. I’ve heard them been compared to Fleet Foxes, Cold War Kids, Passion Pit, and I can see the reasons behind these comparisons, but I’d throw in possibly Beach House and Late of the Pier for good measure. If any of these bands named ring your bells, the Antlers just might be for you.

After the cut: photos and set lists.

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Russell Leetch of mega English rock group Editors kindly took time out of his busy schedule and answered some questions for us. Editors are currently legging it around North America in support of their latest album, ‘In This Light and On This Evening.’

Congratulations on your latest album ‘In this Light and On This Evening’ debuting at #1 on the UK Albums chart the week of its release last October. London is a central theme to the album and is mentioned throughout, such as in the title of ‘Walk the Fleet Road’. Tell us how you came about to choosing it as a theme.
Tom has lived in London for nearly 4 years, and we all live in big cities. It just seemed natural for the concept of what people predicted the future to be and to what it is now. The album is viewed in a third-person view. It’s looking at characters and people throughout.

There was a concerted effort to make a different sounding record this time around, compared to ‘The Back Room’ and ‘An End Has a Start’. I like synthesisers and how they sound on records, so I welcomed this change, though there have been some critics and fans who balked at this ‘new direction’. At any time during its recording, did you have second thoughts on the direction it was taking?
Yep, some people will think of it as try[ing] too hard or trying to be really ‘arty’?! We simply wanted the instrumentation to be different. Tom, Chris and I started to write on Juno synths and Ed on an electronic kit. It just excited us and we think that carries across. The songs are still very Editors.

So how is an Editors album conceived, now that you live in different cities and on different continents? Are there pros or cons of not living in the same city, bumping into each other everyday?
There are more pros to [have] been apart. We spend so much time together on the road and we like time apart to have a life away from the band and get refreshed about music again. It was great to have a few months apart when we finished touring ‘An End Has a Start’. We had things to talk about again and were energized into making music together.
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Editors are releasing their new single, ‘You Don’t Know Love’ (the second single from ‘In This Light and On This Evening’) on 25th of January and they’ve taken an innovative approach to creating the video, creating a team of of talented and award-winning people to make the rather bizarre and surreal video.

‘You Don’t Know Love’ was directed by Arni & Kinski – the Icelanders behind Editors’ ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors‘ video and who have also worked with Sigur Ros, Iggy Pop, Travis and many more. Hotshot cinematographer and Jim Jarmusch collaborator Christopher Doyle was at the helm of the shoot. Doyle is a highly acclaimed, AFI Award-winning cinematographer. He has won, amongst other accolades, the Cannes Technical Grand Prize, Golden Osella, the Golden Horse awards (four times), and Hong Kong Film Award (six times).

So, sit back and watch this rather surreal video that is so much more than another performance video.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=101431347

The single for ‘You Don’t Know Love’ will be released in the UK on 25 January 2010.

Following on from the amazing lineups of the past two years, the Mencap Little Noise sessions are back again this November to raise more money for the mental disability charity.

The lineup is almost complete, with a string of pretty amazing performances scheduled. Personally, I’m most excited about Editors day, along with the pop-tastic Alexandra Burke, Mika and Newton Faulkner days – all of the shows have great talent and with the promise of special guests, I say you should hop on down to Union Chapel to check out some great music. Head on over to the Little Noise Sessions website for more answers to your questions.

The artists so far announced include:

Monday 16th November
Editors
The Maccabees
Bombay Bicycle Club
Everything Everything

Tuesday 17th November
Alexandra Burke
Alphabeat
Marina and the Diamonds
VV Brown

Wednesday 18th November
Mika
Paloma Faith
Alex Gardner
Daisy Dares You

Thursday 19th November
Richard Hawley
I Blame Coco

Friday 20th November
Lostprophets
The Blackout
Egyptian Hip Hop

Saturday 21st November
Taio Cruz
Tinchy Stryder
Chipmunk

Sunday 22nd November
Florence and the Machine
Golden Silvers
Erik Hassle
Ellie Goulding

Monday 23rd November
David Gray
The Low Anthem
Lisa Mitchell

Tuesday 24th November
Newton Faulkner
Scouting for Girls
Little Comets
Stornoway

Editors have just announced a UK tour for March next year. Their sensational new album is available now, and tickets for all these dates go on sale on Friday at 9am from the usual places.

Catch the guys at:

Saturday 6th March 2010 – Lincoln Engine Shed
Sunday 7th March 2010 – Preston Guildhall
Monday 8th March 2010 – Bradford St George’s
Wednesday 10th March 2010 – Glasgow 02 Academy
Thursday 11th March 2010 – Dundee Fat Sam’s
Friday 12th March 2010 – Inverness Ironworks
Saturday 13th March 2010 – Aberdeen Music Hall
Monday 15th March 2010 – Newcastle O2 Academy
Tuesday 16th March 2010 – Manchester Apollo
Wednesday 17th March 2010 – Cambridge Corn Exchange
Friday 19th March 2010 – Bournemouth O2 Academy
Saturday 20th March 2010 – Brighton Dome
Sunday 21st March 2010 – Cardiff University
Tuesday 23rd March 2010 – Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall
Wednesday 24th March 2010 – London O2 Academy Brixton
Sunday 28th March 2010 – Portsmouth Guildhall
Monday 29th March 2010 – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Tuesday 30th March 2010 – Birmingham O2 Academy

Practically all music critics (including me!) throw the same band names around when drawing comparisons to Editors‘ music. However, it’s undeniable the quartet have made an aptly parallel transition from their original Joy Division soundscape to a more synthed out, New Order vibe with upcoming record, ‘In This Light and On This Evening’. Last year, the band hinted to fans that a fresh, ‘rawer’ sound cometh. With the new record, Editors have flung themselves almost adamantly into this promise, practically turning their backs on guitars and making heavy use of retro electronica instead.

We are instantly introduced to the band’s icey new wave synths via title track ‘In This Light and On This Evening’. Frontman Tom Smith’s vocals are dulled as he spouts appropriately dark lyrics (“I swear to God, I heard the Earth inhale, moments before, it spat it’s rain down on me”). The song bubbles with angry tension, finally exploding into a crescendo of distorted electro attacks and Morse coded beats come the epic end. Track two, meanwhile, leads us into the ticking drum machine of ‘Bricks and Mortar’. A dark, throbbing bass underlines the beat, while unimaginative 80s synths layer themselves comfortably over the top. The vocals are mundane, and the chorus is no way near thrilling enough to grab hold of the listener. Despite it’s digital squiggles and throttling bass, ‘You Don’t Know Love’ is similarly monotonous and bland, failing to climax into anything special.

Luckily, track three, ‘Papillon’, pulls some decent hooks back into ‘In This Light and On This Evening’. The track’s recurring synth riff is super catchy, while Tom Smith’s dense, deep vocals compliments the glacier-electronica well. Despite it’s intriguing lyrics, (“You are what you eat. You’ll become digested!”), the airy synthetic licks of ‘Like Treasure’ are similarly appealing, and would happily fit on The Horrors’ ‘Primary Colours’ (I’m quite sure the Southend quintet would hate me for that comment).

Continuing with the comparisons, the tight, echoed drums of ‘The Big Exit’ could have quite easily been stolen from Ian Curtis and co. The falsetto vocals amid the track’s chorus make it considerably easier listening, however. The stiff, dark atmosphere of the album is similarly lifted with, erm, ‘Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool’. The song literally ripples with digital beats, while the bouncy chorus verges on an odd, pop-funk concoction.

While I’m always up for hearing new things from bands’ when it comes to new records, I’d consider criticising Editors for taking their latest sound a step too far. They have gone a little O.T.T with the synths, and while it works in some places (‘Papillon’, ‘In This Light and On This Evening’), it just sounds cliché and reworked in other areas (‘Bricks and Mortar’). Tom Smith’s dense vocals are too, very hard going (I’m trying to resist bringing Interpol into this!). Quite honestly, it’s hard to listen to a whole album of it before he becomes monotonous and irritable. However, the CD is only nine tracks long, and there are some good, worthwhile tunes among it. But, in my opinion, this is certainly not the band’s best work, and I wouldn’t exactly recommend you rush out and purchase it all that soon.

You can, however, pre-order ‘In This Light and On This Evening’ at Amazon.co.uk now The record is released October 12th.

Editors have a very loyal following, which is interesting considering they have a track record of reinventing themselves constantly. Imaginative Brummies are they. This time, they come out with music laced with…wait for it…synths! This self-professed electropop lover couldn’t be happier. The video (and song) kicks like a sleep twitch. Really.

‘Papillon’, the first single from Editors’ forthcoming album ‘In This Light and On This Evening’ was released on 24 August. The album itself will drop on 12 October in the UK.

Fresh after announcing that they’ll be the first band to play Birmingham’s shiny new O2 Academy in September, Editors have announced a full UK and Ireland tour for October.

Tickets for the Birmingham date are already on sale, with the rest on sale this Friday, 12th June at 9am.

Thursday 10th September 2009 – Birmingham O2 Academy
Wednesday 7th October 2009 – Belfast St George’s Market
Thursday 8th October 2009 – Dublin Olympia
Friday 9th October 2009 – Limerick Dolans
Monday 12th October 2009 – Edinburgh Picture House
Tuesday 13th October 2009 – Glasgow Barrowland
Wednesday 14th October 2009 – Newcastle Academy
Friday 16th October 2009 – Manchester Academy
Saturday 17th October 2009 – Leeds Academy
Sunday 18th October 2009 – Norwich UEA
Monday 19th October 2009 – Bristol Colston Hall
Wednesday 21st October 2009 – London Hammersmith Apollo
Thursday 22nd October 2009 – Sheffield Academy
Friday 23rd October 2009 – Nottingham Rock City
Sunday 25th October 2009 – Wolverhampton Civic
Monday 26th October 2009 – Southampton Guildhall

Doom & Gloomers Editors have announced that they’ll be on tour early next year, playing some of their largest venues yet.

Tickets go on sale on Friday (2nd November) at 9am, and are sure to go quickly – this is a band who sold out three straight nights at Brixton, so are sure to be able to play one night at Allie Pallie!

Thursday 28th February 2008 – Blackpool Empress Ballroom
Friday 29th February – Birmingham NIA
Sunday 2nd March – Doncaster Dome
Monday 3rd March – Manchester Apollo
Wednesday 5th March – London Alexandra Palace
Friday 7th March – Plymouth Pavillions

Photo taken from mediaeater’s flickr stream.

Doom & Gloomers Editors have announced that they’ll be on tour in October. They work their way around the country, stopping at:

Monday 1 Oct Norwich UEA
Tuesday 2 Oct Portsmouth Guildhall
Wednesday 3 Oct Exeter University
Thursday 4 Oct Cardiff University
Saturday 6 Oct Oxford Academy
Monday 8 Oct London Brixton Academy
Tuesday 9 Oct London Brixton Academy
Thursday 11 Oct Cambridge Corn Exchange
Saturday 13 Oct Birmingham Academy
Sunday 14 Oct Manchester Apollo
Monday 15 Oct Bristol Carling Academy
Wednesday 17 Oct Leeds University
Thursday 18 Oct Newcastle Academy
Friday 19 Oct Aberdeen Music Hall
Sunday 21 Oct Glasgow Academy
Monday 22 Oct Sheffield Octagon
Tuesday 23 Oct Liverpool University
Thursday 25 Oct Nottingham Rock City

Tickets are on sale on Friday morning from 9am, or on presale on Thursday from 9am.

Photo taken from mediaeater’s flickr stream.