As a Brummy boy, I find it disheartening that Birmingham hasn’t had much to brag about in terms of music for a long time now. Not since the home of my forefathers laid claim to the birthplace of the Heavy Metal genre has anything really noteworthy been produced. Then, behold, came a band that revived some of that lost pride in the homeland and their name is Editors!
O.k. I may have come over a little strong there, however their dazzling first album, The Back Room, followed by a strong second album, An End Has A Start, has given me reason to believe the beauty of Brummy music might be surviving in this indie rock band. With all this expectation on their shoulders, their new album, In This Light & On This Evening, has a lot to live up to.
Now I admit that the Editors have a particular style that they tend to stick to and this has worked a treat so far. With this new album, they have made a few changes that are bound to upset some and please others. They have really slowed down on a few tracks and tended to favour the keyboard over the rhythm guitar. For some songs these alterations had the designed effect but with some, like the title track and The Boxer they just seemed to bore me to a point where if I heard another ridiculously pretentious lyric, I’d forsake our Birmingham ties and use that discarded guitar in an unholy manner.
Saying this, I did fall in love with the majority of the album, with songs like Bricks And Mortar and Like Treasure making amends for the previously damned tracks. However, my personal favourite was the fabulous Eat Raw Meat =Blood Drool and not just because of the wonderful title. This song is the prime example of what this album sets out to achieve. It moves away from their stereotype, while captivating their audience with a catchy chorus. Furthermore, you can tell the big hit from this album will be Papillon, which will definitely get those indie peeps into a dancing frenzy. Overall, the album contains some big hits but also some very forgettable misses.
Chris Craddock