This installment of Editors' Instagram is a month later than it should have been, mostly because I was dealing with the distasteful business of having the Archive destroyed by corporate wolves. My sincere apologies for the delay, folks.
In September, live activity from the band was limited to a single show, a gig that also ended the summer festival mini-campaign in continued support of VI OLENCE. It was at Godiva Festival in Coventry and once that last notes were hit, that was it until the October UK tour. This reduced the amount of photographic and video ephemera drastically, but in all honesty for this fan the whole month revolved around the events of a single week.
The 12th of September provided another insight the disparity between how an artist views their work as opposed to how we as fans may see it. Tom took to Instagram and shared the following message:-
"Going over back catalogue for tour prep. A nice reminder that this is right up there with my favourite ever Editors moments. An amazing @i_was_a_teenage_clint_mansell arrangement. It’s a real shame we played the full band version live ... not a patch on this ... shit gets diluted ... hindsight! x"
He was of course referring to the song Nothing, from the band's 4th album The Weight of Your Love. It's easy to forget the small controversies that accompanied that record. The history of it is detailed elsewhere here at the Archive, but there were certain songs that acted as flashpoints for debates and disagreements between fans and band alike. Nothing was one of them because of its' dual personality. It aired live for the first time in Birmingham during a couple of dates at the Birmingham Institute in June of 2012. It's a chugging, expressive monster when it gets going and it's an example of all 5 musicians locking in and holding the moment. It totally works.
If you read the statement above again and feel like Tom's referring to some other piece of music because it's difficult to point to the flaws in that song. Then you realise that in essence he really is talking about another song, because as we all know the studio recording of Nothing is very different in pace and style.
If you read the statement above again and feel like Tom's referring to some other piece of music because it's difficult to point to the flaws in that song. Then you realise that in essence he really is talking about another song, because as we all know the studio recording of Nothing is very different in pace and style.
The idea that the live version that everyone loves is somehow a diluted take on that track seems absurd, given how well it was received right from the first time it was played. But then we didn't write it. It's extremely difficult to mount a credible defence of the full band rendition of Nothing when the opposing counsel just happens to be the person who conceived it in the first place. It wouldn't matter if we all signed a petition to confirm that it's one of Editors' greatest live compositions (which in my opinion it is), because the principal songwriter behind it is shaking his head and mouthing "It isn't" and doesn't appear to be in the mood for a change of heart. I cannot and wouldn't ever try to speak for the man or guess what he's thinking, but it's probably the case that he respects that fans all love the live version. It's just that he also believes we're all completely wrong. Every one of us.
There is still a glimmer of hope for the TWOYL take of Nothing, however, in that Editors have actually played with a string section as backup before. Ponder this, if you will. Somewhere down the line they get together with Mr Mansell again and do some kind of one off show with an orchestra. The kind of thing that Tindersticks did at the Bloomsbury Theatre back in 1995. I think it would be amazing. Some of their songs would be completely transformed by all those extra instruments. Imagine Two Hearted Spider with a full string section, or No Harm, The Oxford Version of The Pulse or The Weight ? Ahhh these daydreams are keep me awake...
There is still a glimmer of hope for the TWOYL take of Nothing, however, in that Editors have actually played with a string section as backup before. Ponder this, if you will. Somewhere down the line they get together with Mr Mansell again and do some kind of one off show with an orchestra. The kind of thing that Tindersticks did at the Bloomsbury Theatre back in 1995. I think it would be amazing. Some of their songs would be completely transformed by all those extra instruments. Imagine Two Hearted Spider with a full string section, or No Harm, The Oxford Version of The Pulse or The Weight ? Ahhh these daydreams are keep me awake...
This was the first noteworthy happening in September, which was followed exactly a week later on the 19th by an Instagram post which had a black and white photo from a studio somewhere in Rome which read:-
"Days in Rome with @luca.dalberto"
Luca D'Alberto just happens to be a classical composer from Italy. So firstly we have Mr Smith bemoaning the fact that the string version of Nothing didn't get its fair dues, while one week afterwards posting a photo suggesting he's working with another classical composer. It raises more questions than we currently have answers for at present, namely was this Editors related or is Tom collaborating outside of his own gloomy universe again? He's done it before with The Japanese Popstars and Magnus, as well as his most famous extra curricular activity with Mr Burrows. So that's one possibility. But then what if it was Editors related, does that mean there's a track or two being created that we haven't heard yet? Perhaps some solo Smith goodies? Of note is that Mr Rezvani directed the music video for Her Dreams by Luca, making you realise how small the world actually is. There's answers out there just waiting to be revealed and as ever, we're Editors fans in waiting. It's just what we do.
Enjoy the snaps, and sorry again for the delay ;)
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
