Sir, I don't believe you. More on that later.
It's been a long time since we've had hope. You remember "hope", right? Used to be a valued commodity before...well, you know what before. There's been a scarcity of it for a little while now, but if you're an Editors fan, and especially if you're a Russian Editors fan, October featured a slip of the tongue (or keyboard, to be more precise) that may well reacquaint you with the notion of looking forward. Read on.
Before we begin, respect is most certainly due to Hannah from the band's online forum who has been out there sleuthing on behalf of us all. A lot of what you read here this month is thanks to her efforts and continuing enthusiasm for the cause. Thanks H.
On the 7th, Kink released a small video from Tom where he identified his top alternative track of all time. It was The Rat by The Walkmen, and his clip is included here in the zip file. The Rat is one of those songs that perfectly takes a variety of very familiar emotions and balances them for 4 minutes on a single level of heightened energy. I don't know about you, but to me it manages and delivers everything so expertly that you think the authors had two fingers on your wrist to gauge your pulse, and unlimited access to your thoughts and feelings for the ingredients that make up this composition. A trick that Editors have pulled off numerous times.
The 8th of October had the band announcing a white vinyl release of The Back Room for Record Store Day, which also marks the 15 year anniversary of their debut.
In an act of extreme optimism, which given who we're talking about is very out of character (ho ho!), Editors announced a live show on the 31st of May 2021. They are headliners on day 2 of the proposed Creation Day festival which has been assembled and curated by Alan McGee. I say "proposed" because, as ever, the most important and overused phrase of this year which applies to this situation as all others is still in play; "details are subject to change". It might happen but it might not because, as we've all learned, bacteria rules the world and it does not care about schedules.
I'm considering this from a vantage point where the country just entered a second lockdown, and so the idea of rehearsing for and playing a show with actual people in attendance in sufficient numbers to justify a festival seems like a logistical headache. Yet there are so many winners if this happens; the band get to do what it is they do, the community of people behind the performers that make shows happen get to work again, the fans get to see hear live music in person etc. There is no reason at all to begrudge everybody involved their ambitions because success would mean everything. The reactivation of the group is a reason for cautious hope number 1. The second one came from Russia a few days later.
On the 22nd of October the band officially announced what everyone secretly knew, but couldn't quite accept; the shows in Russia were off. This is the official statement:-
"Friends in Russia and Ukraine, as I'm sure you all know our concerts in Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg, on Oct 25 ,27 and 28 cannot go ahead due to government restrictions on events at these current times.
We've already re-scheduled the events once and since then have tried to find new dates that work and are realistic, but without success. So unfortunately these shows will now be cancelled and ticket holders can request refunds from their places of purchase.
We'll look forward to revisiting Russia and Ukraine when we are allowed to tour again in the future, but for now we hope you can all keep safe and well in these crazy times! Love, Editors."
With those 5 sentences, the book was closed on Editors' Russian adventure in 2020. However, as those of you who sit until the lights go up at the movies will know, there was a post-credit bonus to all of this that needs wider exposure. Again, this was unearthed by Hannah and it's fascinating. It begins as a perfectly innocent explanation by Eugene Kibets of the situation regarding the Russian shows that got nuked, but ends with a moment of candid revelation that seemingly came out of nowhere.
There's an assertion that Editors will be touring again in 2022 and not only that, it will be on the back of a new album. Bombshell! It presents us with several questions, and the most pressing one is the reliability of the information? That's not to question Eugene himself, but rather the enduring credibility and substance of what he's sharing. The statement suggests that within the next year and a half Editors will have recorded a new album, and also arranged what you would suspect to be a much larger tour within which the Russian dates would be a part.
The opportunities to travel and socialise with others has been restricted and in some cases outlawed around the world. Editors' history has shown that both touring and recording have required preparation and physical presence, and although they've rehearsed via laptop in the past (particularly during the darker end-times of the Chris era), it would still be a massive change. That's not to say it wouldn't work, just that adapting to the new routine would be a challenge. They tend to work best when they bounce off each other.
It's even more tricky when you look at their plans to play the Creation Day festival which is roughly 7 months away, and where the time frame for readiness is cut in half. Elliott stated in a recent-ish social media post that he hadn't seen the band since before lockdown #1. That's a long time for the strings to stop vibrating and the drums to cease pounding. If you believe that road-rust is a thing, it may be cutting it a bit fine. Right now, where we're all standing, touring seems like a headache for many reasons.
On the flip, putting together an album within those time parameters could actually be the most achievable part of this. For all we know, Editors may have already begun sending out ideas to each other via email. Germs of inspiration that might be being constructed virtually and passed back and forth through cables and wi-fi signals. Lest we forget, Editors have actually made an album in complete isolation before (In Dream),
which it turns out may have been the best possible preparation for what
may be coming next. They assembled their own studio, reduced their crew
to the bare minimum and just worked. If Alan Moulder was able to mix
that record in his home studio, for example, then you have effectively
stepped outside what was long considered the standard procedure for
creating a rock and roll record. No physical time in a paid studio required.
The only consideration would be how much they actually stopped being Editors during their downtime. How far did mandatory seclusion remove them from their role as songwriters? For almost 9 months each member of the group has been removed from the road, out of the studio and away from the mechanics of promotion and dutiful obligation that follow life as a paid artiste. It's a situation that they've rarely been in, given the constant momentum-driven nature of what they do. Tom, Ed, Elliott, Russell and Justin have taken a large step backwards into normal life for most of the year after an extended period of activity. 8 years, give or take. What has that done to them, and in what new ways are their creative synapses firing as a consequence?
You could argue that, as we're creatures of habit it's probably going to be difficult to adapt to getting back out there once the global turmoil has resolved to something more liveable, especially after a lengthy bout of civilian life. But then again the opposite may also be true. What if all this banishment to the sidelines has only served to set fires in hearts, flames that are only going to act as inspiration for an eventual return to action? It could be that each member of Editors is absolutely dying to get back out there...or just enjoying a life with reduced levels of noise and cortisol. Maybe it's a little of both?
Then there's the photo above. "Never writing another song" says Tom, which is what sparked all of this in my head in the first place. I take that assertion in the light-hearted nature within which it was made. I know that Smith and Burrows is happening, but remember that those songs were recorded way before the world went to shit. We're specifically discussing future plans right now. I don't think his music defines him completely because after all he's a father, husband, son etc. I would be sceptical however that he would ever be able to just remove his gaze entirely from that creative component of his personality. I've never met him, but even with my limited insight I feel assured that even if nobody ever heard it and it never left his laptop, Tom Smith would still compose because I think it allows him access to a higher part of himself, however new age and "woo" that sounds. He's good at it. Plus, the idea of 2020 being the footnote to Editors career just makes me nauseous. They deserve better.
In summary, do I think that plans have been discussed behind the scenes that may have included the idea of an album and tour in 2022?
Yep. No doubt.
Do I believe that those plans were meant to be aired in public right now given their potentially ephemeral state of being...probably not. I mean, that there are any plans being formulated at all is positive for those of us who ghoulishly ingest anything we can by this band. Yet it's balanced by the knowledge that as much as we hope, there's always a slim chance that the whole operation may get FUBAR at any given time. Minute by minute, hour by hour and day by day I feel like everybody's just crouched in the longest sprinters-pose in history, in readiness and waiting for the starter pistol to sound. When it does, oh boy. Enjoy October's media.
Editors Instagram October 2020
For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
