As we’ve seen in various heroic films over the last decade, each subsequent release tends to carry a different pace and feel. With two to three years between releases, it isn’t surprising the next lives in a world all its own.
For Editors, the two-and-a-half years since In Dream has garnered just that sentiment. However, if you’re to go back through the illustrious catalog of the English visionaries you’ll quickly find each album stands on its own, in a world all its own. Violence (PIAS Recordings) is no stranger to this sentiment.
The latest from Editors carries the weight of the dark recesses explored in In Dream and steps into the light of vivid synth-laden beats fused with the legendary compositions we’ve come to expect and love from Smith, Leetch, Lay, Lockey, and Williams.
The common thread of modern music that is a combination of lyric and instrument mounted against a backdrop of some consistent theme all playing to one another has never been the modus operandi of Editors. The brilliance of Editors, where lyrical prowess moves amongst an environment of enchanting instrumental structure, where each exists independently yet together, tied as if forged in some universal dance of musical ethos, is the embodiment of Violence. Through the span of nine tracks the electronic frame of the record airs a breath of upbeat flair through almost every track, including the captivatingly ornate run of “Hallelujah (So Low),” “Violence,” and “Darkness At The Door.” However, when the moment calls for it, Violence ties itself to the slowed emotional vein Editors conjures so well. Drawing upon an echoed emptiness “Belong” closes Violence with a reflectively, albeit haunting, ballad that is breathtaking. Violence has never been so beautiful.
One of the most striking characteristics of Editors is that each album exists within a pace and presence that is identifiably different from the next. Violence not only solidifies this but raises the bar once again. Editors capture a delicate thread of brilliance and draw their bow of musical vision across to create a sound that is simply stunning.
Greg is a co-founder and regular contributor to Nanobot Rock