Editors
When you’re dismissed as arch miserablists there’s only one place to go, deeper into the dark recesses. Editors return with ‘An End Has A Start’, a collection of songs in the key of death that sound utterly life affirming.
Words_Francis Jones
They wear black on the outside because black is how they feel on the inside. Well, not quite. Previous offstage encounters with Editors reveal them to be an affable and engaging bunch, their private personas somewhat at odds with their public, onstage and on-record guises. Catch them during soundcheck and you’ll observe them share a joke, frontman Tom Smith happy to regale the listener with tales of on-tour shenanigans or to discuss the relative merits of the Mercury Music Prize nominees.
Today we’ve cornered Chris Urbanowicz, the quietly spoken, unfailingly polite and slightly intense guitarist. Like his bandmates he bristles at the merest mention of the ‘M’ word.
“Miserable? People like to believe we’re miserable. In fact some people are so dreadfully disappointed when they meet us and discover that we’re not wrist-slashing miserable bastards.”
However, every dark cloud has its silver lining. In some gothic quarters, the belief that Editors are misanthropes only adds to their appeal.
“It’s one of the things that most attracts certain people to Editors. It’s good that our fans see us in different ways, that we have a certain level of mystique.”
As Urbanowicz is quick to point out there is a multiplicity of feeling and thought in Editors music. Mystique and misery are just two of the factors that account for their success. Like his colleagues, Urbanowicz espouses hard work, he’s ambitious for the band, but knows that nothing comes easy. In July 2005 their debut album ‘The Back Room’ entered the UK charts at number 13. It would eventually yield gold and platinum discs, but only after the band had embarked on a punishing cycle of touring. Now they’re ready to spread their dark gospel again.
‘An End Has A Start’ is a forbidding title for a record. It’s portentous and, dare one say it, slightly pretentious. The subject matter is serious, quite literally a case of life and death. Their critics will hope it marks the demise of Editors. Not a chance. Now they’ve got purchase on rock’s slippery slope they’re not going to loosen their grip.
“We didn’t really feel any burden of expectation. Recording was a very steady, easy process. Any hang-ups we had were quashed as soon as we got in the studio with Garret Lee. We’d already been playing ‘Bones’ and ‘Weight Of The World’ in our live sets and, just before we finished touring, we brought those songs into the studio. Knocked ‘em out in three or four days and realised pretty quickly that Garret was someone we could work with. The results were actually more satisfying than we had hoped for.”
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