KEY POINTS:
It must be hard being in Editors. Not only are the Birmingham miserabilists constantly compared to bands like Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen, or Interpol and Bloc Party, but these four lads are also surrounded by death, decay and - get your hanky out - singer Tom Smith is all alone in this world. So it seems anyway.
The strange thing about An End Has a Start, the follow-up to Editors' 2005 debut, The Back Room, is how uplifting it is despite the sombre mood set by Smith's deep drone and gloomy thoughts like "bones starved of flesh" on Bones.
There's also an inspiring power to Editors' epic and emotional music that over-rides the sense of morbidity. Dig a little deeper too, and as the title track suggests, it's not all doom and gloom and death need not be a sombre occasion - "There's a devil at your side. But an angel on her way," sings Smith.
In contrast to The Back Room, which was more immediate, thanks to lashing and bracing anthems like Munich, Bullets and All Sparks, the new album is grand and majestic and takes a little more getting into.
What is immediate, is the way the searing wail of Chris Urbanowicz's guitar becomes a constant source of satisfaction throughout.
The comparisons to the bands mentioned earlier is fair - Smith is reminiscent of Joy Division's Ian Curtis and the post-punk influence runs deep in Editors' sound. There's also a fair bit of the Jesus and Mary Chain to Editors too, especially on the smouldering The Weight of the World which has a beat that borrows heavily from Just Like Honey.
But with songs like first single Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors, the driving Bones, and the club oonst of The Racing Rats, there's no doubt that this is pop - albeit dark pop - music. It should be a great gig on August 7 at the Studio in Auckland.
Label: Sony/BMG
Verdict: Second album
