Editors - Part 2
A Cut Above
What is particularly satisfying is that the band hasn’t sought to simply consolidate what they had already achieved. ‘An End Has A Start’ is unquestionably Editors, but there is progression and a greater breadth of ambition. If ‘The Back Room’ was a small screen masterpiece then this is a widescreen epic.
“We just wanted to be ourselves: Editors, but amplified,” confirms Urbanowicz. “Two years of touring has an effect on you. You’re in new surroundings, seeing different parts of the world, seeing other bands, bands that are trying something different. We certainly didn’t want to make ‘The Back Room Pt. 2’. Garrett gave us a lot more ambition, removed boundaries and encouraged us to try stuff that perhaps we weren’t confidant enough to try on the first record.”
Ah, the Garret Lee effect. Working out of Grouse Lodge Studio, producer du jour, Garret Lee has been behind some of the most breathlessly epic records of recent years. Urbanowicz waxes lyrical about his influence on the making of ‘A Start Has An End’.
“He’s quite a magical guy, has that infectious sense of enthusiasm and a wonderful way of describing music. He’ll just say the most extraordinary things, “I want you to make a guitar line that sounds like the sky falling apart and then being put back together.” It’s kind of daunting, though after a while you start to understand what he means which is probably even more frightening.”
Certainly there is a sense of majesty and indeed of experimentation (albeit limited) to Editors’ second album that testifies to the input of Lee and, more to the point, the increased confidence of the band. The record might surprise those who dismissed them as mere Joy Division acolytes.
“There are still some classic Editors’ moments in there, but there are definite differences too,” says Urbanowicz. “I think the first single (‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’) has been surprising people. We didn’t choose an obvious song of ‘The Back Room’ ilk; instead we went for more of a standout statement. Musically, there are places on this record we haven’t gone to before. ‘Well Worn Hand’ has a very steady, Elbow-esque, quality. Elsewhere however, there are songs such as ‘An End Has A Start’, which could have slipped quite comfortably onto the first record.”
It seems perfectly conceivable, almost inevitable in fact, that Editors will become even more renowned and successful following the release of ‘An End Has A Start’. That they will have done so on their own terms, through sheer application and by remaining loyal to their vision is what most satisfies Urbanowicz.
“We didn’t set out with these pretensions about hugeness of sound or scope, or to achieve a certain number of record sales. We decided we were going to do whatever the hell we wanted. That’s the most important thing, to make the music you want to make and not what people expect. ‘An End Has A Start’ is the sound of Editors pushing themselves. If we’d just replicated ‘The Back Room’ then none of the band would have been satisfied. If you don’t push yourself as an artist there’s no point.”
Their singular vision and willingness to engage with personal experience has resulted in an album which hangs heavy with the stench of the grave. Death stalks this record. Frontman Smith is on record as saying that he, in particular, has become intimately acquainted with loss. Awareness of one’s own mortality or of the mortality of one’s beloved is to the fore on songs such as ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ and the title-track.
“Lyrically this is a darker, more mature record,” agrees Urbanowicz. “We’ve always liked looking at dark, serious issues and camouflaging them in beauty to make music that’s uplifting rather than simply depressing or demonic. There’s a contrast, and that’s evident in the responses we’ve been getting to the record; some focussing on the darkness others saying it’s uplifting. That’s how we know we’re doing our job right.”
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