Indiessential Albums of 2009
A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking that 2009 had been pretty uneventful as far as new music was concerned. I guess I was feeling a bit uninspired and disenchanted. Suddenly, it felt as if there was an explosion of new music and I rushed out and got four new albums. That in turn lead me to look again at the albums that have come out this year and to see if any were worthwhile. The results have been interesting and from now to the end of the year, I'll be posting about some of the Indiessential albums of 2009.
Editors - In This Light and On This Evening
The Editors are one of my favourite bands and first caught my attention in 2007 with their phenomenal album An End Has a Start. Up until now, their sound has been compared to that of Interpol and R.E.M. but with their third studio album, In This Light and On This Evening, Editors break all previous barriers.
It is not often that an album impresses me as much as this one has and I’m going to review all 9 tracks on the album. Links in the song titles will take you to the Last.fm pages where you can listen to the tracks.
Editors - In This Light and On This Evening
Record label: Sony Music
Release date: 12 Oct 2009
- In This Light and On This Evening: really dark and it reminds me of VNV Nation. The strange thing is that it is this dark but he is talking of beauty! This track sounds nothing like their previous material. It starts off slow and melancholy and then erupts in a burst of heavy beats and electronic, synth driven melody.
- Bricks and Mortar: carries on the electronic tune from the first song and Tom Smith’s signature voice returns and reminds us of the Editors we all fell in love with. This is an absolutely English album as he sings of London, pounds and pence.
- Papillon: reminds me again of VNV Nation and The Mission too. This is a long way from the band that sounded like Interpol and R.E.M. It does make me wonder what a “sleep twitch” is though and what it has to do with butterflies and guns. Okay… my brother explained what a sleep twitch is and it still doesn’t make any sense! Nevertheless, I do think Editors might just be the best band around now.
- You Don't Know Love: one of my favourite tunes on the album. It has an electronic, New Wave, emotional sound to it. It gets to a point where comparisons lose their usefulness and Editors consolidate their new sound and emerge as a top class band in their own right. This is a groundbreaking album.
- The Big Exit: a strong tune with a catchy refrain, this song is another one of my favourites. ♫ "They took what once was ours, they took what once was ours" ♫ (sing along now)
- The Boxer: this is my absolute favourite song on the album and is one of those songs that I just want to put on repeat and play it over and over again. It starts off a bit like Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” but then it just gets absolutely brilliant after that and again, there is no use in comparisons. I really love this lyric: “an unwanted sun pulls rank in the sky”.
- Like Treasure: this song is the most like their older music out of any of the songs on the album but there is a definite New Wave influence on the music again.
- Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool: this is the strangest song on the album. I don’t have much more to say about it other than that. It is a good penultimate song though and leads well into the final song.
- Walk The Fleet Road: there is that unmistakeably London setting again and it is also unmistakeably Editors. This song is theatrical and brave, thoroughly uplifting and a fantastic ending to one of the strongest albums I have heard in years.
For the first time in quite a while, I am happy to give an album 5 stars for sheer groundbreaking brilliance.
Editors - "Papillon”
The video to the third song on the album.
