Release Date: July 1, 2013
Summer is a time filled with new music marketed to keep the summer party going on; it’s all about keeping the good times rolling with your friends under the sun. Every party has a crasher, though. While many artists releasing albums in the summer harness people’s need for a power jam, Editors have to be those guys who damper the mood.
This is not to say Editors’ latest album, The Weight Of Your Love, is bad. It’s pretty alright, actually, though it does not stand well when compared to previously released records. It seems tainted by a fear in the air that the departure of lead guitarist Chris Urbanowicz has affected the band’s sound and left it hurting.
Right from the beginning, “The Weight” transports the listener to another world with forceful string lines and the eerie tinkering of a piano. It’s is the most vibrant track on the album, which is slightly disappointing, since it’s the first. It’s heavy and lush in composition, and no song by Editors could be anything but slightly melancholy and forlorn.
“A Ton of Love” repeats the same theme that every other song captures. At the third track, it’s already a little tired. The cherry on top, though, is the cry of, “Desire!” over and over again, as if Editors are really trying to say one thing with their album. It grates on the nerves a bit, and in the end, the song is rather un-creative instrumentally.
Maybe that’s something to consider with this album. The repetition, in its own way, drives home the point that you can’t escape the feeling of heartache so easily. It’s a stretch to say that’s what Editors intended, but if it were true, it would heighten the artistic value of the entire album tenfold.
No collection of achey-breaky songs would be complete without a little angst. “Hyena” is the ventilation duct of the album. The guitar saucily enters onto the scene, and its driving rhythm pushes the detectable spite in the lyrics a little harder into the heart of its target. “Two Hearted Spider” echoes this theme, but in a silky, sad way. The drum thumps vigilantly and consistently throughout the song. As the track climaxes, the pain felt is sincerely conveyed.
The final track, “Bird of Prey,” ushers the dreary compilation to an end. It sounds a lot like all the other songs on The Weight Of Your Love. A repetitive piano line, a repetitive drum beat, a sad sounding string section, and a drab, Tom Smith-like “oooh”-ing get old fast.
In the end, Editors does not appear to hurt by the “amicable” split from its lead guitarist and has retained its sound and composure in The Weight of Your Love. However, nothing in the album truly sticks out. It would appear that the remaining members of Editors are trying much too hard to show that they are unshaken and are still the same, despite the change. The Weight Of Your Love isn’t bad per se, but it’s not memorable, either.
Editors – The Weight of Your Love tracklist:
- “The Weight”
- “Sugar”
- “A Ton of Love”
- “What Is This Thing Called Love”
- “Honesty”
- “Nothing”
- “Formaldehyde”
- “Hyena”
- “Two Hearted Spider”
- “The Phone Book”
- “Bird of Prey”
