Courtesy of our friends at Virgin Radio Italy, here's Tom and Russell undergoing some subtle interrogation by Giulia Salvi in the sunshine backstage at Firenze Festival on the 16th June 2019. Note the gentlemen in the background playing table tennis throughout, an activity that has been popular with the band for years now. Only the brief appearance of shuffleboard has threatened its reign as the king of backstage time-killing. Wherever there's a table and a net, you'll probably find an Editor.
This is only a short chat but what can we deduce from just 3 minutes of banter? Well, there's the news that the sessions with Jacknife Lee, who was of course the producer of An End Has a Start, has offered up 3 songs. One of those is Frankenstein, which was released recently, but that means there are two tracks outstanding. When asked if there's a new record coming, the protective walls (or Barricades?) seem to descend with speed and expert precision, with both Editors claiming they don't know and that they'll see.
There is however a repetition of a tag that adorned one of their Instagram posts last month, and that was that there would be some surprises coming. What that means is up for debate; it could be another standalone single release or perhaps some additional material for the end of year Greatest Hits package they've been promising. There has been some speculation that the singles compilation could signal the end of the group completely, but I'm not convinced. I think that they would be of the same mindset that R.E.M. used to operate under regarding their own demise. Peter Buck would often tell interviewers that he felt there would come a time when they'd all sit down with cocktails in hand, and just knowingly agree that they didn't feel like they had it any more. Then it would be over. I don't believe that we're there yet with Editors.
I know that Tom's got some Smith and Burrows stuff to attend to but it's unclear as to what his involvement in the promotion of it will be. Is it something he'll be fitting in around Editors' own workload or will he finally be taking a (well deserved) break from the trenches of mope and parking that particular glum-truck in a layby for a little while? Juggernauts, screaming to a stop you might say.
There's also been some changes in domestic arrangements of most Editors, and domesticity can kill rock and roll. However, the one constant I keep returning to is that they've always said they wanted longevity, and to have a career that lasted over time. There is an art to knowing when to pull the ripcord in music. We can all name a band that's gone on too long, who went back to the well too many times and came up dry. As I said, I don't think that time has arrived with Editors. Frankenstein may have caused a schism between those who were first captivated by the dark, guitar driven angst of the early records and those who came aboard dancing to the more expansive and inclusive post-Chris sounds, but I think it's all a matter of changing tastes and differing opinons. Which is totally fine. This is, however, something that's happened before.
When In This Light and on This Evening was released there was talk of Editors having royally screwed themselves with a change of direction, and that this would surely have turned their audience off completely. Later, when Chris was shown the door it was suggested that this would definitely mean the end. How could they possibly go forward without him (those two gigs in Birmingham 2012 were widely believed to be Editors' last)? Granted, this was also a consideration that the band themselves actually had around that time, and yet here we are 7 years later. They have an uncanny knack for repeatedly guiding themselves into quicksand while carrying weights in their pockets, only to emerge later and continue moving forward. It's just what they do. You write them off, bury them quick and then become alarmed when your the sound of tapping on wood. There's a strength that Editors possess that doesn't seem to have dissipated just yet.
Alternately, there has been no indication at all that a new Editors record has been started. Any notion that the Jacknife Lee sessions were a beginning for a collection of new material would seem to have been dismissed in this interview. That only 3 songs resulted means that either that was the intention all along, or that they'll return to do more at a later date. Maybe the remaining 2 songs will be shelved, in the same way that The Wind on the Water and He Comes from the Quiet were?
The one underpinning foundation of all of the above is that we truly just don't know. I do believe that the band know far more than they're letting on, they often do, but they really have invested in the idea of surprising their audience. Let's be honest, nobody saw Frankenstein coming. Even when it was made public via inclusion on a photo of a potential setlist for the festival shows, we didn't quite believe it. Personally speaking, I'd love to hear more from them and I do hope they have plans that extend beyond their end of year collection. That's assuming that the love and passion for what they do is still there. Otherwise, it's just punching a clock and showing up out of duty or obligation, and this band means more to most of us than that. Here's to good decisions and choices...
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love ;) x
