Editors: Turn Off The Bright Lights

Britain's post-punk darlings beat sophomore slump and maintain their glorious gloom

In a country known for its outlandish, cartoon-y rock stars with their drunken venue trashings, tabloid-baiting big mouths and flashy photos adorning the cover of the NME, Editors must be a pretty unassuming lot among their peers.

In the U.K., where Amy Winehouse just won't go to rehab — and nobody can get Pete Doherty to stay in rehab — the four Editors seem more like the type to be relaxing by a fireplace with a glass of brandy and the complete works of Jean-Paul Sartre. But while Editors may look inconspicuous or — shock horror — boring, what they lack in showy image is made up for by a workmanlike ethos and a willingness to talk about the "big topics."

They integrated themes of desperation, absolution and fragility on their debut album, 2005's The Back Room, which became a hit for its unsettling post-punk songs (think "Blood" or "Munich"). Now, they return with fresh material in their second album, An End Has A Start — although its birth wasn't initially an easy one.

"When we finished touring The Back Room last September, we only had two new songs written," says Editors frontman Tom Smith. "We're terrible at writing on the road, you know? We're not that prolific, and we needed space to be creative again. We were scared of the unknown. We didn't know what was going to happen.

"But as soon as we started working, writing and then recording, any pressures that were there to an extent kind of vanished. Every bone in our bodies wanted to make another record, to be creating again, because we'd been playing the same songs for two years."

Editors' desire to push their limits may have been out of necessity as much as common band evolution. Since The Back Room's sound was much tighter and frantic — "claustrophobic" is a word Smith likes to use — it was only natural that they'd fit well in a dark, atmospheric club environment. However, all of Europe is host to endless year-round music festivals, and so as Editors began to make the rounds on the festival circuit, their sound grew to adapt to their outdoor surroundings. This was apparently something Editors kept in mind as they worked on An End Has A Start.

Says Smith: "When we played those songs from the first album live, they became more massive than they were on the record itself. I think we kind of realized that when we play songs, they work in big spaces. So with this record, we decided to try and bridge the gap between what the record sounds like and what we sound like on stage — and more often than not, that's huge. We did definitely turn everything up to 11. It was like, if something sounds shit we can take it off, but let's try. If we think a choir will work, let's use it. Piano, acoustic guitar, strings, whatever, let's give it a go. We wanted to be ambitious and try new things, not make the same record over and over again."

As open as Editors have been with experimentation — and they definitely succeeded at this, given the more lush soundscapes and Smith's brighter vocal tones — they've at least managed to maintain the more bleak style of rock that endeared them to hordes of fans the world over. On this sophomore album, Smith's Ian Curtis-esque baritone is still contemplating the heavier topics, yet these themes can all be boiled down to their one common thread: the glory of death.

Smith knows that their music constantly walks a fine line between joyous and downtrodden. The result is a juxtaposition that uplifts the listener while grounding them in the harshness of reality at the same time, particularly in a song like first single "Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors."

"It can't just be suffering, suffering, suffering," Smith says firmly. "It can't be. You have to look for the good in things. If you're confronted with death or something terrifying in your real life, you start to look around and think, 'yeah, that's scary, that's horrible', but then you appreciate what you have. You take comfort in people — in friends, in family. You make the most of what you have while you have it. There's a strange hope and optimism in that."

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Down On Fascination Street

While Editors may not be "prolific" on the road, they definitely use the time to learn a whole whack of cover songs. In the past, they've released covers of R.E.M.'s "Orange Crush" and Stereolab's "French Disko," both of which are available amongst the large number of B-sides to their U.K. singles. And now there's a new one to add to the list:

"We did The Cure's 'Lullaby,' which will see the light of day soon," promises Smith. "We did it really dark. It's terrifying."

The following feature is from the September 2007 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue go to the Chart Shop.