An Album With Real Vision
In the beginning there was a young band with a big buzz and the sound of a rejuvenated Joy Division, by 'An End Has A Start' the group have truly grown to masters in their own right. While, 'The Back Room' waned slightly between several big tunes, 'An End Has A Start' is filled from start to end with racing rhythms and incisive lyrics that punch you in the guts.
Although the lyrics remain a stony dirge with depressive subject matter, focussed doggedly on death and departure; from the soothing stoic refrain of "Every little piece of your life will add up to one" to the pained, "It creeps all over you like a dull ache" of 'When Angers Shows'. But there's also hope to be found in the lifting melodies and sublime use of guitarwork and insistent drumbeats, the latter for example blossoms from a slow monotone lament into stunning, chiming chorus that bores into your brain.
'The Racing Rats' poses the hideous question, "If a plane were to fall from the sky, how big a hole would it leave in the surface of the Earth?", the whole tune sobs with raging pace and even the guitars resonate with emotion in a way that only Editors can manage. Single, 'Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors' has already received masses of radio play despite its tender subject matter, if you've been living in a hole for the last few weeks and missed its swelling melody, then all you need to know is that it's a true stunner.
With 'An End Has A Start' Editors distance themselves from Ian Curtis comparisons; their music is now far more melodic and expansive than the dark rhythmic creations of Joy Division. The heavy reliance on guitarwork to pep up the tunes is another stark contrast the work of the Joy-less masters, 'Escape The Nest's shrill guitar melody for example sets of the shimmering tune than aurally listens with the same, "lights from the town" that Tom Smith sings about. The imagery of ants escaping the nest is a powerful metaphor, putting each of us in our place as a tiny part of an infinite universe and it's this belittling grandeur that Smith is wonderful at conjuring.
'An End Has A Start' is sure to be one of the albums of this year, it's a fabulous piece de resistance of which Editors should be truly proud and making this group a real British gem.