What's a band like Editors to do? Having mastered their Joy Division for the modern age approach a couple of years ago the band stood at a crossroads. Should they continue to plod on with a third album of post punk brilliance or take a risk and do something completely different? Well the band threw two sheets to the wind and pulled a New Order. Once again, in a roundabout way, taking their cue from Joy Division the band neatly tucked in their guitars for bed and broke out the synths and created an even darker masterpiece with their new album, In This Light And On This Evening.
Paraphrasing a page out of Movement, Editors haven't completely let go of the grey and grimness that populates so many of their songs. Instead, they remain clinging to a certain amount of glumness with pride. The difference is now the band wrap those feelings and thoughts around a sheath of electronic textures that forcefully create a whole different atmosphere than they're used to. It's a starker more barren landscape that occasionally hints at happiness but more often than not hides alone in silence. That might sound like quite a depressing prospect, but trust me when I tell you it's not and your ears will be rewarded handsomely.
In This Light And On This Evening isn't their best album but it is the best album from 1981 released this decade. It's a fantastic effort that's loaded with lush songs that are as grim as the winter's sky while remaining easy to latch on to. From the sweeping rises of, "Bricks and Mortar," to the goth anthem in waiting, "Papilion," In This Light And On This Evening is truly an album that embraces change and runs with it. Editors ability to ditch the guitars while still hanging on to everything that made them great is a tribute to just how good of a band this is and just how good In This Light And On This Evening is as well.
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