It was the 17th of May 2021 that saw Editors begin recording their new album at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire. Just a couple of weeks later there was a post confidently claiming that they were finishing up E7, and this gave me pause for thought.
As we know, most bands you have their whole lives to prepare album number 1 (and possibly 2 depending on how many songs you have). They've written, rehearsed and probably played them to the point of boredom when the time comes to permanently memorialize them digitally. Everything is be familiar and structurally sound through repetition.
This isn't the Back Room, it's Editors' 7th album (how crazy is that?) and they seem to have always been written in the same ways. Bear in mind, of course, that I wasn't there for any of this so I can't say for certain. However, interviews over the years would suggest that:-
- Tom puts some demos together
- He sends them out to the other members of the group who will add their own ideas
- They convene in a rehearsal room somewhere to play the resulting music together, expand on their ideas and possibly demo the material as a group
- Depending on their tour schedule, some tracks may be tested live or in rehearsal to gauge their effectiveness and iron out any sonic creases
- The songs get recorded/released
Two crucial steps in the process, namely 3 and 4, have been either been removed entirely or severely curtailed due to pandemic repercussions. There's no doubting that 1 and 2 were achieved, thanks to the liberating nature of the technological era we occupy, but that's a pretty big leap from 2 to 5.
Editors are, at least for the majority of the time, a band that are adept at adapting immediately when it comes to novel circumstances...but not always (more on that in a second). For example, you put them in a studio with electronic instruments and new recording techniques after two albums of mostly guitar-based songwriting, you get In This Light and on This Evening. They go to Crear for a month with the intent of simply demoing new material, hello to the self-recorded splendour of In Dream. Both times saw them able to shape something new and exciting using the ingredients that change provided. Historically, Editors have always run towards that change either out of boredom or a fear of creative stagnation so this new way of bringing E7 into being isn't really that new at all.
The only time I can think that this rule isn't applicable was during the making of The Weight of Your Love, where I think the vision of what could have been was partially obscured by the grand confusion and personal angst that surrounded it's recording. As a species, humans tend to view change with great suspicion and that in turn brings a certain degree of stress. Considering E4 was accompanied by extreme personnel changes and the unforgiving ruthlessness/indifference of major labels being revealed to them at a time when they needed them the most, it's understandable. For me, it's a good album that's a little lost and unsure of its place in the world.
Since the VI OLENCE album, the entire planet and to a lesser extent just
simple daily living has become something far removed from "ordinary", and I
wonder how that has affected the construction of E7? Also, what about the time Editors have been forced to spend really being extricated from the machinery of the music business? Is there a pent up energy, a desire/need to creatively express that will fire things in more urgent ways than if the participants had just come off a prolonged time out on the road? My hope is that it's brought out the best in them by forcing them to create unfamiliar problem solving methods, and all the while fuelled by a need to reclaim whatever ground they may feel they lost through no fault of their own when the Black Gold victory lap was cut short.
Whatever the methodology, it can't be overlooked that the elusive, ethereal magic that occasionally (and usually accidentally) manifests when musicians play in room has been bypassed this time around. If the music has been assembled in piecemeal fashion and at distance, almost like a puzzle being constructed by all the participants, how will that change the sound of the new record? Circumstances shape all records, and I'm very curious how separation and restriction have permeated this one.
Lastly, something that we all assumed would happen came to pass when the band announced that their gig at Festival Cruïlla, 9th July 2021 was off. A combination of covid protocols relating to travel and the continuing aftershocks emanating from the SNAFU that is Brexit were the cause. I also suspect that the lack of preparation and rehearsal time might have been a lesser but still contributing factor to the decision. I do believe in the concept of stage rust, and considering how long they've been apart and inactive in any kind of live performance capacity, it has to have been a concern. It sucks, but the bad news would be counterbalanced by something a little bit special on the 1st of July...
Editors Instagram - June 2021
For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
