As we eagerly inhabit the space where the band quietly build towards their live return in February, we got an announcement on the 16th of January about a booking at Warm Up festival in May. The conventions of music business best-practices would usually dictate that the early part of 2024 would be the time that Editors disappear into creative hibernation, given that their most recent album EBM has been public domain for almost a year and a half. Yet it feels like there's something else going on. I keep coming back to this but it may be simply due to their much more structured way of operating their civilian lives adjacent to Editors' promotional commitments?
There are twin demands in play here, and not necessarily possessing equal strength, of fulfilling the needs of those you love and care about at home, and meeting the demands of people who admire what you do creatively and want to experience it live. It is, of course, obvious that in most cases one of those obligations is always going to outweigh the other, but in a world where creativity allows you to earn a living I imagine the ratio changes. Even if it's only slightly. The reality is that the dominant area of focus will always takes away from the one less pursued, and a lean too hard in one direction can have an adverse effect on the other.
Spending extended amounts of time at home and away from the road, could result in you being publicly forgotten. A reverse scenario of prolonged stays out in the world hitting cities too quickly to be able to fully appreciate your surroundings, all the while unintentionally nurturing the seeds of darkness caused by extended separation, could cause problems in your civilian life. If there is a middle ground between the poles, of following their muse to invent while simultaneously enjoying life away from the band, it could be that after 20 years of trial and error, Editors are finding it. Not necessarily a merger, but an alliance between opposing ideals. I suppose it will be evident when they come back. 2024 may be about revelations, or it could just be a protracted farewell to EBM.
As well as his usual photography, I was really excited to see Justin release three short films in January with what appears to be original music on his Instagram profile. I have assembled them all into one clip that runs at about 6 minutes long, and you can watch it on the Archive's YouTube channel. It's a collection of different footage but all with a single unified theme. In terms of sound it's got a really smooth ambient kind of mood going on, and I really liked it. Check it out.
Editors Instagram - January 2024
For all of Editors' previous Instagram posts, go here.
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
