Sunday, 30 November 2025

The Archive Index

"Don't let it get lost..."

Welcome to the Lemming Archive.

What you'll find here is everything that I have ferociously, and often indiscriminately collected by the UK band Editors since I first became a fan in 2006. There's no officially released material here as it's not my intention to take money out of anybody's pocket. What it does contain are live shows, interviews, television appearances and some other memorabilia that isn't quite as easy to categorise (Editors condom tin, anyone?). The whole idea in setting this blog up was to assemble everything in one place so that other Editors fans would be able to delve into the band's history, as well as catching up with their current activities. The links below will help you do that.

Whether you've been an Editors fan for a while or you've only just discovered them, I'm really glad you're here. Have a look around and take whatever you want, support the band and most importantly of all enjoy the music ;)

The Lemming Archive - Table of Contents
For hidden extras, scroll down to "Covert Shares"

Editors in 2003 (as Snowfield)

 
 




 

 

Notifications and updates 


The Lemming Archive (main blog)
 

The Archive on YouTube (for all hosted videos)

 

Editors' online message board

 

The Lemming Archive's email address
 

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x

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Monday, 1 January 2024

Tom Smith - Hamburg 26th March 2026 (Sven's Recording)

 



You know it's the good stuff when Sven is taping. 

Here's another contribution from a long time friend of the Archive, Sven. This time he was present at Tom's show in Hamburg on the 26th March 2026, and luckily for us he was recording the event. Many thanks again to you, Sven for passing this along. We appreciate it ;)

This was a set from the end of Phase 1 of what is Tom's 2026 solo tour in support of There is Nothing in the Dark That Isn't There in the Light. As refined and fluid as Nic and Tom's musical abilities may be, you just never know when the universe will attempt to force a sharp left turn in the proceedings. Something to put an unnatural stop in an otherwise smoothly running activity. With that in mind, I'll let Sven describe what went down on this particular night.

There were also a couple of funny moments during the show. I think it was during “Broken Time” when a beer bottle tipped over mid-song. On the church’s stone floor, you really couldn’t miss it. Tom casually added a quick “oops” into the lyrics, and Nicholas started laughing so much that they had to stop and restart the song (you can hear me very loud laughing) .
 
During “An End Has a Start,” the house lights suddenly came on. The look on his face… priceless. Then he just went with it and sang the fitting line:

“Someone hit the light ’cause there’s more here to be seen” – and everyone cracked up.

The quality of Sven's recording means you can really hear that occasion of bottle meeting floor, and the subsequent laughter that accompanied it. 

The next block of solo dates will be kicking off soon, and then there will be a slow wind-down to Tom once again becoming an Editor. I wonder if these smaller, intimate shows have perhaps evoked memories of a time when this was normality; when Editors were enough of an unknown quantity to be able play pubs and stare down the audience, as opposed to selling out the Ziggo Dome and gazing at them from a short distance?  Will the return to larger stages during the summer festivals be a shock or a comforting return to familiarity?

Overall, I imagine there may be fleeting spells of disorientation, given that he's essentially doing the opposite of what Editors did prior to changing their touring behaviour after the first three albums; reducing the schedule to preserve both their sanity and their creative abilities. At the end of the EBM tour in 2024, Editors went offline. In September 2025 Tom went out on the road again to promote There is Nothing in the Dark, something he has done sporadically now for about 8 months. On paper, that looks like a year off between tours but of course he was recording the album during that time. Next, if Editors really are releasing their next record in 2026, then that record industry clock of a year and half to two years of promotional commitments will start again.  Just in time to follow on from Tom's individual pursuits. 

Granted, there have been "comfort breaks" like the one we are currently in, meaning it hasn't been as relentlessly grinding as the Back Room and AEHAS tours were. Even so, there have been rehearsals and recording of new Editors material during those prior rest interludes, meaning Tom's work momentum has never really fully dissipated for a good few years. You might say, there have been few instances of pure Nothingness. 

If you haven't been out to see the fellas yet, go show them some love. These special evenings of being able to appreciate the songs in such enclosed spaces will probably be going away very, very soon. Enjoy the music ;)


MP3s
Deep Dive - download here
How Many Times - download here
Endings Are Breaking My Heart - download here
All the Kings - download here
The Weight - download here
Life Is for Living - download here
Honesty - download here
No Sound but the Wind - download here
Broken Time (false start) - download here
Broken Time - download here
The Phone Book - download here
What Is This Thing Called Love - download here
Northern Line - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Munich - download here
Ocean of Night - download here
Papillon - download here
It Ain't Me, Babe - download here
The Hills We Died Upon - download here
Lights of New York City - download here
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors - download here

All in a Zip - download here

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;) x
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Tom Smith - Warsaw 23rd March 2026 (Maciek's Recording)

 


Hope you're still OK...listening to our miserable songs


Contributed to the Archive by Maciek, this is an audio recording of Tom and Nic playing a show in Warsaw on the 23rd March 2026. Many thanks to you for sharing, it's appreciated.

Tom has said in recent interviews that he undertook the solo exploits he currently finds himself on because of his creeping towards the age of 50. It was a "now or never" impulse driven by advancing years. I think that as well as fulfilling that goal, his recordings and live shows may have opened up an unexpected avenue of possible future collaboration. The way that these songs have been reshaped for acoustic consumption with Nic Willes, would seem to suggest there could be opportunities for this pair to work together as songwriters in time away from Editors entirely.

The music that Tom produces is very much influenced by whoever he is working with. Even as a solo artist, his time with Iain Archer showed that, particularly in the the way that Iain apparently had him focus in more intently on the lyrics he wrote for the album the made. Having some sort of a creative surface upon to direct his ideas does seem to matter, and certainly gives unique form to whatever it reflects back.

The reworkings of old Editors compositions for this tour have really given some of the older tracks a new personality, The Weight is a great example. That was a song that lived and died on the slightly queasy strings and persistent, heartbeat-like drumbeat from Ed. With both of those elements removed it still has that slow, looming unease. Tom and Nic clearly have that premium component that all bands rely on, often irrespective of whether they get on or not; chemistry. It has me wondering what a record produced between the two of them might sound like, because their handling of already existing material has been sounding very positive indeed.

This recording contains all the tracks you'd be expecting to hear, as well as Tom's cover of Bob Dylan's It Aint Me Babe and a brand new Editors song called The Hills We Died Upon. There's also some advice from the man himself before An End Has a Start is played, on just what to do if you find yourself..."caught short" during the show. Enjoy the music ;)   


MP3s
Deep Dive - download here
How Many Times - download here
Endings Are Breaking My Heart - download here
All the Kings - download here
The Weight - download here
Life Is for Living - download here
Honesty - download here
No Sound but the Wind - download here
Broken Time - download here
The Phone Book - download here
What Is This Thing Called Love - download here
Northern Line - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Munich - download here
Ocean of Night - download here
Papillon - download here
It Ain't Me, Babe - download here
The Hills We Died Upon - download here
Lights of New York City - download here
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors - download here

All in a Zip - download here

brought to you with lemming-love ;) x
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Tom Smith -Schorndorf 13th March 2026 - (Herr Steppsch recording)

 

Right from the get-go, let me say this is a recording by a YouTube user with the handle Herr Steppsch and all the credit should go their way.  I'm just preserving it and making sure it reaches the people who need it. Normally I would contact the taper and ask if they were cool with me Archiving their work, but I couldn't find any details for making that happen. If you happen to be reading this, thank you very much. If you want me to remove the file, drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to oblige. 

This is a recording from Tom's second tour, in support of his debut solo record There is Nothing in the Dark That Isn't There in the Light. The personnel on stage remains the same as last years adventure in travel, but the set list has been suitably altered to give this run of shows an identity all their own. Not least because it contains a brand new song which will in time be released by Editors, called The Hills We Died Upon.  There will be a period of transition midway through the year, where Tom rejoins that group and the work towards presenting the next Editors album will begin. I wondered if we'd get lucky and they would road test new material when they play the festival shows in the summer, but it's actually happened a lot sooner.  

This show has a lot to recommend it. For one, and in comparative terms, Tom sounds so much more comfortable in this setting now.  The music itself has also gone through a total transformation. The circle to be squared was always going to be how to take these entities that have lived and developed their own personalities, some for over 20 years, and make them sound new and exciting. That's exactly what has been achieved. I'm also so happy that theses shows are being received so well, and the excellent German crowd here did a fine job of opening their arms and welcoming these people to their town. Boom boom.

There's a "Tom swears" moment toward the end of the show, as well as a cheery proclamation that  
"nothing lasts forever". After years of trying to exorcise the demons through sombre serenading, the boy still has some darkness in him. 

There's also a return for a Bob Dylan cover in the shape of It Ain't Me Babe, a song which Tom has previously played as part of a radio session with Dermot O-Leary way back in 2009. If you want to check it out, go here.

Enjoy the music ;)


MP3s
Deep Dive - download here
How Many Times - download here
Endings Are Breaking My Heart - download here
All the Kings - download here
The Weight - download here
Life Is for Living - download here
Honesty - download here
No Sound but the Wind - download here
Broken Time - download here
The Phone Book - download here
What Is This Thing Called Love - download here
Northern Line - download here
An End Has a Start - download here
Munich - download here
Ocean of Night - download here
Papillon - download here
It Ain't Me, Babe  - download here
The Hills We Died Upon - download here
Lights of New York City - download here
Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors - download here

All in a Zip - download here

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;)
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Sunday, 31 December 2023

Tom Smith - The Hills we Died Upon - Cologne 11th March 2026


 
By the fans, for the fans. 

I was contacted this morning by a gentleman who was at Tom's show in Cologne last night, asking if I'd like to hear a recording of a brand new Editors song. Oh, the dilemma! I had to think very carefully before I responded, weighing up both the pros and the cons and trying to gauge my own level of enthusiasm. I mean, do I really want to hear an unreleased Editors song that will be on their next record? Do I really? 

I'm sure it will surprise and shock you that I ended up answering in the affirmative, so here we go. Thanks again, Michael for your kindness. It's appreciated. 

The biggest disclaimer here is that what you're listening to may not resemble the finished studio recording at all. That version will have gone through the Editors filtering and evolution process of four other people being involved. Whereas this take is a Smith/Willes acoustic presentation. 

Lyrically, the introspection of There is Nothing in the Dark... appears to have continued, and I find myself returning to the question I've pondered a few times here at the Archive already; namely how did Tom decide which compositions to take for himself, and which to surrender to the push and pull of the democracy within Editors? I'd love to know. 

Enjoy the music ;)

The Hills We Died Upon

MP3

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;)
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Editors Instagram - February 2026

 


It's appropriate that Tom is returning as a solo player and that Editors will be following later on this year because, my goodness, the world is a very dark place right now. Every day is like carrying a rock in your stomach that keeps on getting progressively more heavy. In the same way that the bombardment of the soul by media helped to shape the writing of the Violence album, I wonder how our current global situation will seep in and influence the new record, if at all?

Tom released a short video this month where he laid out the plans for 2026. There were also some photos from inside the studio, where work is wrapping up on Editors' new album.  Rahi made what could be a telling little statement by sharing a video of himself driving onto the Eurostar train while Camera played in the background. Might be something, might be nothing....

Editors Instagram - February 2026
download here

For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
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Tom announces plans for 2026

 

Here's a short video featuring Tom announcing his plans for 2026. Enjoy the chatter ;)


brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;)
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