Editors
In Dream

If for some reason you were tasked with drafting a partial biography of the Editors, you would need to start by making a distinction in their career between an initial phase that includes the first two albums and a subsequent phase embracing the following two albums.
A first phase rich in satisfactions for them and the audience, whose guiding star was their debut “The Back Room,” and a second initiated moderately with “In This Light and In This Evening” and poorly continued two years ago with the mediocre “The Weight Of Your Love”… and it is here that “In Dream” falls like rain from the sky.

And although my instinct didn’t predict anything good, there is a partial correction and a return to acceptable paths, attempting to set aside the mimicry of the worst Coldplay, drawing on the synthetic atmospheres of the third album, and occasionally adding an entirely pleasant splash of The National.

An album then that, while having its ready-to-use singles, this time proposes smarter, less gaudy melodies than in the past.

It opens in a suspended state on the tiptoe minimalism of the sparse “No Harm” and it’s immediately pitch black. A slow, oppressive piece, which will remain unique in the lineup.

Editors metaphorically host The National, Santa Claus, and the reindeer in “Ocean Of Night,” a mix of colorful lights and good vibes, where Tom Smith’s warm timbre stands out. One of the easiest tracks to memorize, but also a high point of the album along with the dreamy “The Law,” featuring Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), who manages to make a positive contribution by creating soft and ethereal atmospheres with her magnetism.

In “Forgiveness,” the guitars come back into play, in an album where they play the role of the minority party, and the result is appreciable, although I continue to wonder whether I like these triumphant pre-choruses or not.

From here onwards, it’s a blackout, turning back the clock a couple of decades, and with “Salvation,” the synthesizer festival begins, taking over at least until “Marching Orders.”

While the noteworthy tracks are mostly placed in the first part of the lineup, with “In Dream” the Editors return to levels fitting their name, and by varying a bit among different registers, they put together an album that won’t stand out in the top positions of the best albums of the year, but nevertheless sends an important signal for the future.

The captain’s whistle, the roar of the engines: the ship attempts to set sail again from here.

To the next port.