April could be accurately summarised as Editors deftly making a single, 180 degree turn from the past, through the present and into the future.
The 16th was the tenth anniversary of Chris leaving the band, and even if we are in the process of closing chapters, it's still OK to acknowledge the preface. Nobody wants to deliberately make themselves sad...actually, I may have to rephrase that. We're Editors fans and, as you know, that is precisely what we enjoy doing. OK, how about nobody wants a return ticket to the things that upset them? Marginally better? Even if it did sting a little to revisit this forever partially-healed scar, it was worth the discomfort to salute Chris for his contributions one more time. Thanks again, Mr Urbanowicz.
The day after that marker, the title of Editors' new single was leaked. In a world where everyone is connected and has easy access to the internet, secrets are at a premium affordable only to those who surround themselves with people they trust. Even then, a single entry on reddit or a casual inadvertent posting of an undoctored promotional photograph can remove all the mystique. For a while, those who caught the slip get to possess that tension of knowing more than they can talk about, and assume the duty of acting surprised when the big reveal actually happens. Some of us have done this before, once or twice. Two days later there was a teaser trailer released for the promo of Heart Attack, which actually landed the day after that.
Do you remember when they were launching the In Dream campaign, and they did the low-key treasure hunt for No Harm that was won by our man Erik? That was almost exactly 6 years earlier but unlike then, they took a much more assertive approach to re-entering the public consciousness. Heart Attack is a bold, pronounced fanfare of return that brightly and enthusiastically flirts with mainstream music whilst concealing a switch-blade under its coat. It may or may not be about the wish to utterly consume another person in the name of unrequited love, regardless of their obliviousness to that desire. Then again, it might just be a harmless but darkly worded love song. Only Tom knows.
As well as the announcement of the new song we learned that Blanck Mass was now a full time Editor, which brings to an end another phase in the evolution of the group; the one where they started with two new musicians, considered splitting for good, then gradually rebuilt themselves to the point of a greatest hits tour that was killed off by covid.
If we had to surmise what he will bring to all of this, I would suggest that he could well be the vodka in the prom night punch-bowl. That added ingredient that subtly alters the overall composition of the base elements. He will be joining the band on stage later on in the year, but not for the summer shows they have lined up. The question is, what will his role be and how will it be executed in real time? I think that there's a very real chance that some of the songs we've grown accustomed to hearing as virtual doppelgängers of their studio versions will now be altered with his addition. How radically, I'm not sure. It just seems that unless they have him playing for only parts of the set, then they're going to have to look at ways of including him when the older numbers are rolled out.
We already know that the band are not averse to changing things up, and having seen Elliott and Russell in action recently doing a DJ set in Manchester, the smooth blends between songs like Papillon and Marching Orders or Violence and No Harm makes more sense. I mean, it was probably extremely obvious but I'd never really fully made that connection between the two; that these DJ skills were informing a rock and roll show and making that subtle step across the genre boundary.
There are now some wildly varying musical personalities in the group now, and Heart Attack sounds like an infusion of all of them. Specifically with regards to BM, during an interview with Studio Brussel on the 21st April, Mr Smith had this to say:-
"He kind of started the songs in a writing sense..."
This a very interesting. We have a very traditional understanding of how the music is made in Editors, distilled primarily through the various interviews they've given in their lifetime. Tom provides the basics, the band then flesh them out in a room somewhere (or online if proximity is curtailed). While we may have suspected that other members of the group could have been bringing their own compositional ideas to the process in the past, rather than simply convening to reshape Tom's basic structures, this could this be the proof that there is a far more democratic dynamic here than ever before. More colours on the palette, sort of speak.
Tom's pre-recorded interview with Phil Taggart on the Chill Da Beats podcast came out on the 28th of April, and even though it was only 13 minutes in length it provided a lot of new information. I won't spoil it for you, you can check it out here.
The month ended with some fantastic weirdness in the shape of Russell and Elliott doing a DJ set at Ramona in Machester. There was an interview with the guys before the set began, but sadly it was audio only.
As well as all these evolving storylines, there were of course the photos and videos from various Instagram accounts. On that subject, congratulations to Justin Lockey for getting his work included in Leica Fotografie International's online gallery. It's a tricky spot for The Archive because I avoid putting up photos of Editors' family members, particularly their kids, which is why they're never included in these Editors Instagram zip files. Yet all the shots that have garnered him praise over at the LFI are in fact of his immediate family! He's OK with putting them out in the world, most of them are on his Instagram profile, but I just don't feel right sharing them here on what is basically an online museum for the band and its music. As a workaround, you can go and check one of the winners out for yourself using this link.
Enjoy the rest of the colourful blossoms that sprang up in April 2022.
Editors Instagram - April 2022
For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
