Released in April of 2009, this was a small teaser video to let fans know what was currently happening in Editors' world. A little bit of context here; we were waiting for E3 but had no idea what it was going to sound like. Having just been through the lengthy An End Has a Start campaign, which had followed on from an equally prolonged Back Room stretch, we had been fully conditioned to expect guitars. Lots of guitars. And tracks that could be released as singles. Then this happened.
It's 16 seconds of photographs from the studio, showing the band working on their new material. But that wasn't the main talking point here, it was the sounds that accompanied it. Using a clip from the song I Want a Forest pricked both the imaginations and the fears of the fanbase in equal measure. Get the children to a safe place, gather as many of your valuables as you can and prepare yourself for the end of days. This was....
ELECTRONIC MUSIC!!!!!!!
Cue a loop of debate, recriminations (which lasted for months), curiosity and anticipation. What got overlooked a little bit in the shit-storm surrounding the style of music is that at the very end of the clip the initials of the album's title were given, although there's no way we could have known what they stood for. Also, "I Want a Forest" wasn't even on the album proper, instead being released as part of the accompanying Cuttings disc. It wasn't misdirection, as such, because it was still an accurate indication of what the record was going to sound like.
Take a trip back in time and enjoy 16 seconds that changed the way Editors would be perceived for years to come ;)
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
