One of the first orders of business last month was some more philanthropy in the form Editors putting their names on the BeeLove poster, as part of the Forever Manchester and the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund appeal. As you may recall, this was set in motion by the suicide bomb attack at the Ariana Grande concert on the 22nd May 2017. The idea was that bands would sign their names on a poster created by artist Amy Coney, depicting the Manchester worker bee logo, and it would then be auctioned off to raise funds. In the end, it brought in just over £7,000. Great work, Amy. Congratulations ;)
August was the penultimate month in the 2017 festival campaign, which saw them playing four dates in a week and taking in Romania, Belgium, The Netherlands and Ukraine. Pukkelpop and Lowlands were included in that number and they gave, in my opinion, two of the best shows of the entire run on those nights (and on those evenings). There seems to be a new found vigour in all 5 Editors that's elevating the music to a different standard than the one they set in May, when all of this started on a revolving stage at Primo Maggio.
The horrible, horrible irony of that fact is that once they do Beyond the Tracks they'll be retreating back into the studio to complete E6, just as their ability to deliver their songs consistently and with maximum emotion seems to be reaching its zenith. Build, build, build and then...gone. Maybe there's some terribly deep existential symbolism buried in there somewhere, but I doubt it.
Still, the adage of leaving them wanting more could be true; a little absence from the stage before they begin the next touring cycle, and some time to actually live as civilians again, will make the collective heart grow fonder but also give them time to recuperate. I don't think any of us want a return to the dark days of 2015 where Mr Smith was too sick to travel, let alone take care of his crooning obligations.
In addition to his fantastic airport snapshots, Mr Lockey has increased the number of short videos he's been sharing on his travels. They're these little vistas of people in the streets of different cities, taken as he's passing through. It's a kind of vehicular voyeurism that reminds me of the Meeting People is Easy video by Radiohead, in the way it looks and the dreamy, frosty detachment it carries. The world kept at a safe distance behind glass. He has this knack for being in the right place at the right time to capture small moments of interest. There's a video filmed in Ukraine outside a shop front, for example, and just as the van he's in pulls away these two soldiers walk in and out of frame. All the clips he shot and shared during August are included in the zip.
If you want weirdness and drama then August possessed some of that. There were high hopes that the set from Summer Well would be made available, as had been the case with some other bands, but in the end we only got video footage of the first three tracks. Ordinarily that would still be a cause for celebration, but there was a catch. The frame rate at their end was totally out, which meant that the picture jerked and shuddered making it a little difficult to watch and enjoy. The sound was OK, however, and if you want to check it out then you can grab an MP3 using this link.
Then, there was the Virgin Radio story that offered miscommunication and disappointment by the barrel. It's a bit of a tale to tell but I've laid everything out in that post. If I'm guessing correctly then the interview with Tom should surface as we get closer to the Beyond the Tracks festival, given that it the subject matter is partially concerned with that show. It was a huge let-down but if it's atonement that Virgin Radio are after, a brand new Editors session will certainly go a long way to achieving it.
The only two outstanding matters this month were the continued confinement of Dream Dark as Your Heaven (booooo!), and the ongoing possibility of the mystery track release as hinted at by EdiBow.
Finally, how would you like to see Mr Smith getting his plums out and playing with them on camera? I could have handed this over to the tabloids anonymously, but after 11 years of shameless/shameful obsessing I still have a modicum of respect and fondness for the band. But if I'm being honest then Editors are most likely finished after this, and Tom will go blind/develop hairy palms if he continues this sort of behaviour. Social media is forever, and it's all in the zip...
download here or download here
And if you want to view Editors' previous adventures on the interwebs, check out the links below:-
January 2017 - download here
February 2017 - download here
March 2017 - download here
April 2017 - download here
May 2017 - download here
June 2017 - download here
July 2017 - download here
August 2017 - download here
September 2017 - download here
October 2017 - download here
November 2017 - download here
June 2017 - download here
July 2017 - download here
August 2017 - download here
September 2017 - download here
October 2017 - download here
November 2017 - download here
Complete 2015 Collection
Complete 2016 collection
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
