Editors Instagram - May 2021

On the 17th of this month, and in accordance with the national regulations, people were allowed to gather together indoors again. We were encouraged to be cautious when hugging others, although it wasn't made clear how this would be accomplished. Maybe perform the hug but lean back far enough so that you can maintain eye contact to watch for any surprise viral attacks? Who knows? As congregations began to restart Editors were clearly already planning to take advantage in the change of status related to personal freedoms, and on the 18th they confirmed that they were together and recording again. They had chosen the residential Chapel Studios in South Thoresby, Lincolnshire, a place already visited by the band a long time ago to record The Back Room. It's so weird that after drawing a metaphorical line under everything that came before with the Black Gold release and tour, the starting point for the next chapter is the same as that for the first. 

Then, another surprise on May 23rd as Blanck Mass was revealed as being involved with the new record. This is very likely the explanation behind the "Scheming" photograph that came up in February this year (see above), and I know that for some folks this might be a concern; that a primarily electronic artist is once again being given a direct influence on Editors' music. That the guitars might be abandoned once more, or at least be asked to take up a position lower in the mix. After all, the VI OLENCE album and subsequent Blanck Mass sessions release were undeniably synthetic. But...

 

Pause.

 

Breathe.

 

Look at it again.

 

Does this feel a little bit familiar? It should because we've all been in this predicament before. To everyone who has the pre-album jitters right about now, wondering if this will be the worst decision they ever made, consider this. Imagine that after An End Has a Start you got spooked by the notion of Editors using keyboards for album 3, and you somehow had an option to hit a button to alter the path of history to prevent the band from exploring their electronic tendencies any further. 

 

Congratulations! 

 

You just prevented the world from ever hearing In This light and on This Evening which is, in this shady bootlegger's opinion, their best album. But wait! If you'd like a hearty bowl of irony-flavoured soup, when their 4th album drops bringing back all those guitars so beloved by the luddites who ran shrieking from 21st century trappings, it will be met with head scratching and complaints. 

"You can't win" - Heads in Bags

We should also remember that this is an Editors recording session with Blanck Mass' input, so the balance of creative power still rests with the band. If there's a place for guitars and making pretty songs a little bit more dirty, I'm sure it will happen. Compare the two versions of Hallelujah from the BM sessions and the final take on the VI OLENCE album and you'll see what I mean.

From the perspective of looking at the angles to this situation, those who pay attention more closely than is necessary will also know that this is the first time they've used the same producer for an album concurrently. The only other time they tried this in the past was with Flood, until the Great Collapse of 2011 - 2012 wrecked everything and left us with nothing but longing, remorse and a hard drive full of songs that the band occasionally torture us with by referencing but never revealing. 

I've been thinking about the fact that one of the inspirations behind VI OLENCE was the phenomenon of media bombardment. For me, the last year has been everything that inspired that record but with the volume setting cranked up to the top and then the control switch being broken off. The lock down news cycle has been and continues to be the most crushing, punishing thing you'll ever have the misfortune to allow into your life. It is a sponge that soaks up all the joy in your soul, leaving a painfully dry and hollow space for you to carry with you throughout your day or night(mares) afterwards. I wonder if E6 had been written during the last 2 years it would have borne even deeper scarring than the events that originally shaped it way back when? Would the music have been more extreme or aggressive? Also, will the songs that actually have been written for the new record during the last 2 years feature emotions manifested by the utterly chaotic nature of life in that time, or will it be deliberately not featured as a move to disconnect from it and advance forward? The irritating truth is that we have no idea what E7 will sound like, or what themes will drive it. So speculation it is.

If, as I did, you thought that Smith and Burrows had already returned to hibernation then the 21st of May dispelled that notion entirely. They appeared as live, in studio guests in the Zoe Ball show and as it was Eurovision time once again (nil points, yay!), they played their own version of Love Shine a Light by Karina and the Waves. You can check it out here.

 

The 28th brought news of two vocal collaborations for Tom; one with Solomun on his track Night Travel and the other with The Policy on Digitize. The former took his vocals and buried them in effects, effectively anonymizing him as the singer.

 

Finally, on the 29th of May 2021, the Lemming Archive turned 10 years old. If you're looking for someone to blame, it's Tom. The idea for the site came directly from a note he put out on Editors' official website on the 26th November 2010, announcing the creation of the band's forthcoming Unedited Box Set. This is what it said:-

Nov 26th 2010
A message from Tom

Another year races towards its end and Editors are a hive of activity. It won’t be long until we’re together again as a band rehearsing the first ideas for album 4. Obviously it’s a big task but we have songs now and the wheels are well and truly in motion. The idea is to record in stages over 2011 but first things must come first and we need to get into a room together and play, see where the ideas take us. These are exciting times and we’re all looking forward to taking our relationship with Mr Flood further… first rehearsals start in a matter of days.

But it’s not all about the future right now. We’ve been picking through the archive recently, looking back at our 3 records, many many b-sides and some material that has never seen the light of day. It’s been addictive. We can’t leave it alone, much like picking a scab, and we’ve decided to package it all together and share it with our fans, officially. We’ve raided the vaults, searched through old CD-Rs, cassettes and photo albums and gathered it all together. We’d like you to have this music on any and every format we can produce and also share some photos and memories of the last 6 years in a volume that you can keep forever.

So that’s what we’ve done; coming in Feb 2011 is Editors, the complete collection. Unedited, if you like. Seven 12” heavy weight vinyls, seven CD’s, a download of everything in high quality 320kbps mp3 format and a book of photos and words. It’s gonna be sexy.

Hope you’re all keeping well,

Tom
xxx

- The boxset will be made available to pre-order from editorsofficial.com early on the 2nd December.
- The First 200 pre orders will receive a special personalised surprise from Tom
- Between now and February we’re also selecting some special content that you can access and download for free by simply entering your email address on editorsofficial.com.

 

Even though that first paragraph is bittersweet as we look back on it, there was a real inspiration to me in the second and third ones. I wondered if it would be possible to take the spirit of the Unedited Box (but without the sexiness, sadly) and make it a state of being we could occupy perpetually, rather than as a one off experience? That was the birth of the Archive. Post number one was on the 29th of May 2011 and it looked like this. It's been downhill ever since :)

Editors Instagram - May 2021

download here

For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
 

brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x