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

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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Editors Instagram - January 2026


 
And just like that, a whole month of this new year was done. There wasn't a lot of overt business being conducted by Tom/Editors in January. You would have to suppose that the rehearsals for Tom's upcoming Spring tour have begun, as well as tackling logistics of awakening the dormant machine that is Editors. Speaking of which, they announced another festival date for the summer, this time at Splendour in Nottingham on the 19th of July.   It should be noted that as of this moment, it's their only UK date so far in 2026, although plans have a habit of evolving given time.  Belgium already has three dates, not including Tom doing Werchter solo,  which is just clear and unabashed favouritism. If they keep doing this, rumours will surely begin to circulate about there being some kind of special relationship between that country and the band...

One thing you may, or may not have noticed was that Tom has nuked his TikTok account. The timing for that seems weird, given the promotional cycle for There is Nothing in the Dark... is still ongoing. Yet the situation has a familiarity about it that I knew I'd experienced before.

Tom signed up to Twitter in 2013 and even then the impression given was that it was an act of subtle, quiet coercion rather than an entirely freely-made decision. There's a very obvious hint at that during the interview he gave backstage at the Olympia in Dublin in November 2013, which you can check out here. He lasted under three years on that platform, before shutting it down completely in March of 2016. From then on he continued, and still continues to post on Instagram. 

I think the difference between that platform and Twitter is that the latter as always been more about instantaneous communication between poster and reader. If you participate, then you accept that unwritten rule. I know that one of the stated aims of punk rock was to remove the barrier between audience and performer, to challenge that elevated status that is often afforded musicians and bring everyone to the same level of connection. To make everybody more accessible. However, I think even most people proposing that belief would agree that there still needs to be a defined boundary line in respect of privacy. If you are someone who is already protective of your life away from your band, which Tom has demonstrated on occasion previously, it must be quite unnerving for example to receive active enquiries at 2 or 3 in the morning, from a distant fan who hasn't allowed for time differences. A fan who then gets bent out of shape when you don't reply in a very, very timely manner. This is the kind of thing that can happen should you choose to make yourself available on social media, and I would guess that the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze upon reflection. He is primarily, after all, a musician and not a content creator.

Again, we've never met or interacted but I'd guess that Tom has probably never burned with a secret desire to have a TikTok profile. It has exactly the same kind of immediate back and forth between parties that Twitter has, and so I wondered how long he would continue taking part. From a promotional awareness perspective the platform served it's purpose in widening the optics for his solo record. However, unless you're the kind of person who lives on social media, which I don't think he does,  in the long term it's just another distraction or even an obligation that you'd rather not be shackled to. 

Your time in this life is finite and very, very precious. Social media will happily separate you from it for as long as you allow, leaving you with only dopamine-fuelled remorse and persistent emptiness as a reward. 

The biggest drawback from him closing his profile completely is that all the videos posted there are now gone. That is, unless some weirdo on the internet with both the innate sensibilities of a stalker and a hoarder has collected it all somewhere. Unlikely, but you never know... 


Editors Instagram - January 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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Editors Instagram - December/2025 AIO

 


2025 has transitioned into history, and in Editors fandom it will be most remembered as the year that Tom went solo. That's not to say that Editors were entirely dormant, given the photographs from the rehearsal studio that have been shared across the year. There are already items on  the calendar to look forwards to; 2026 will see their return to live action during the festival season, most likely after more rehearsal and recording of new material.  There's also a Spring tour from Tom to look forward to, as well as a first time appearance on his own at Werchter in July. 

December was a levelling off of activity, with Tom doing some promotional work in Europe. There were radio sessions as well as in-store gigs and a couple of slots on Belgian TV. All attention is now on what comes next. Will there be new Editors material aired at the festivals? It would make sense to at least submit some of the more recent compositions to a road-test. It's not something they're unfamiliar with; we had Bones live during 2006 and Two Hearted Spider in 2011, which in each case was a year before they arrived officially. 

This post contains a collection of photos/videos from December, as well as all the photos from throughout the year in a zip file. 2026; here we go...


Editors Instagram - December 2025
download here

Editors Instagram - Complete 2025 Collection
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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