Editors
Violence

There was great curiosity regarding the Editors, especially after the well-received "In Dream".

Sixth studio work for Tom Smith and his companions, this "Violence" (recorded between 2016 and 2017 and co-produced by the band along with Leo Abrahams) presents us with a band in good shape, engaged in yet another skin change after a plunge into darkness and dust with the previous album, which reconciled the dark vein of the early works with the taste for electronics from "In This Light And On This Evening" of 2009.

As stated by Tom Smith himself, substantial help in writing the pieces came from British musician Blanck Mass, born Benjamin John Power, who is half of the drone duo Fuck Buttons. He helped organize in some way the two predominant souls showcased by the band for this album; the electronic one, extensively explored in the two aforementioned records, and the guitar-centric one, a historical heritage of the Birmingham boys.

The result was already widely evident in the two (excellent) singles extracted, the stunning "Magazine" (probably the best refrain from the Editors in years) and the equally convincing "Hallelujah (So Low)", as much à la Muse in the verses as it is overflowing and violent in the chorus.

In this new path, we find a more pronounced taste for certain pop architectures, as clearly demonstrated by the opener "Cold", or in the chorus of the aforementioned "Magazine". Even "Darkness At The Door", despite the title, shows a certain positivity (usually foreign to the band's mood) that is lost in an insistent instrumental tail. Elsewhere, more complex and layered solutions are sought, as in the long journey of the title track or the martial ending "Belong".

The rearranged version of "No Sound But The Wind" is curious, a historical piece already included years ago in the OST of "Twilight – New Moon" and released as a live version single back in 2010. Here it is presented with a few more embellishments (not necessarily a bad thing) and a more refined and accomplished arrangement, perhaps even more epic and vaguely pompous.

"Violence" is a good album, and the Editors continue consistently in their search for a definitive identity that seems never to arrive, however commendable the attempts are. In any case, yet another absolutely commendable episode and farewell until the next transformation.

Best track: Violence