There were some photographs of nocturnal band activities on the 3rd May and they had the hashtag "Bristol", suggesting that there may have been an Editors rehearsal session going on in the city. These continued through the week, and then there was a photograph of long-time understudy in the art of frowns, Nic Willes. One of the hashtags on his shots was keyboard. There were two possibilities, as far as I could tell, the first being that was Nic happened to be in that locale and was simply hanging out with his friends on a night out or two. However, that keyboard hashtag caused the kind of unreachable mental itching that only the truly committed among us have experienced. Blanck Mass had already joined the group, swelling their numbers to a substantial six, so the idea of Nic coming back again as a musician seemed unlikely. There's only so much equipment you can fit on a stage, so unless Mr Willes was there to do some body-popping to those most broken-hearted of disconsolate backbeats, it didn't make sense. Eventually it would, however, but not until the end of the month.
On the 12th of May the band released a video on social media of Tom rehearsing, and it contained fragments of Heart Attack and what we now know is a part of the new song Kiss. Also in the video is a whiteboard that only appears on screen for a few micro-seconds, but if you look carefully you can make out the beginnings of the word Karma, which we have since learned is a part of the title to one of the three new songs they debuted this month, Karma Climb. If you've immersed yourself in Editors media enterprises over a number of years, and hold a negligible grip on day to day reality, you might be persuaded to believe that the band are in fact talking directly to you through these little coded messages. Important puzzles that only you can decipher. Not me, though. Never. That blatantly incorrect opinion is clearly the problem of everyone else, and I mean EVERYONE else in this world who are obviously against me. Maybe even you...
On the 17th a remix of Heart Attack by Phase Fatale released, and a day later there was the announcement of a European tour. After a probationary period forged from the despondency of 2 years of multiple plans and promises beginning and ending, it seems the idea of sharing live music in settings that don't require an internet connection between the audience and the performers is returning. It will undoubtedly help to get the word out, and considering Editors are expert missionaries of the mope, it should allow their new record to have the kind of exposure and reach that the last Smith and Burrows album was cruelly denied, for example.
There were two live shows in May, one at Dauwpop and the other in Hamburg. Dauwpop saw the first public divulgence of three melodic secrets the band have been protecting from view for who knows how long. They were the single from last month, Heart Attack, followed by Karma Climb and Kiss. As I mentioned earlier, Karma Climb as a title was accidentally(?) partially revealed in the video of Tom rehearsing, but Kiss we knew nothing about. As fans we've been situated in a place where we know there's an album coming, but we don't have a full grasp of the overall sound. Heart Attack might have been an indicator, but then there are numerous times throughout musical history where one song from an album does not act as an abstract. I won't go slinging mud around here again, but I would guess you too have been burned by a band at some time who seemed to promise so much with a song, and then whose wider output turned out to be something else entirely. Yet, as in most areas of life the more information we have, the better we can form accurate opinions. If the new Editors record is, say, 10 songs in length then almost a third of those tracks sound like extremely accessible pop music. Obviously, in the case of Heart Attack that means accessibility to a tune about stalking and possibly dispatching forever an object of your inappropriate unrequited affections, but accessible nonetheless.
The month ended on a downer, as Justin made an announcement on the 24th that he was taking the summer off and would not be playing at the upcoming festival shows.
I've said it elsewhere in another post that the change in mental volume brought on by exiting the relative calm, stability and regular silences of "civilian life" to cover distance alone, as is Justin's preferred method of touring, and then play in front of thousands of people must be a jarring contrast. I think that making the call to step back for a while was absolutely the right choice here, and it shows an admirable self-awareness on Justin's part.
Nic Willes was in those photographs from Bristol for a reason, he was supporting a friend. It speaks to his character, and of course to that of everyone around him in a professional sense because the wider reaction to the news has been inspirational, and I'm aware that might sound corny but given the traditional baked-in cultural attitudes of "just getting on with it", I don't think so. Sometimes it's OK to deviate and take some time to get right. No recriminations, only well-wishes. It's something that has clearly had an effect on Justin, who posted this shortly after he made the announcement.
As I write this, Editors played Vestrock last night and are due to play in Wales this evening. Things sure are different to a few months ago as we all sat dejectedly on our little islands of unhappiness waiting for the good ship Glum to arrive and take us all onboard. Enjoy the snaps/video from May 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
