Backstage

Backstage
Focus archive
Focus on…

Editors

October 2009 | Alternative

Editors are about to release their third album "In This Light And On This Evening". Produced by ex-Killing Joke guitarist Flood, it draws heavily on synths over guitars, in contrast to previous efforts.

The debt owed to Kraftwerk, and other teutonically influenced artists, on "In This Light..." is plain for all to hear. Think Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire and early period Death in June and you won't be far off the mark. Yet far from being derivative, Editors take these sounds and bring them up to date for the 21st Century to create anthemic songs. Pop is never too far away either, especially on lead single "Papillon". We spoke to bass/synth player Russell Leetch to learn more about the making of the new record...

Hey Russell, how are you today?

Pretty good thank you. I usually am!

Good to hear it! What have you been up to since your last album, "An End Has A Start"?

We toured An End Has A Start for about 18 months. After that we took five months off from each other and started writing in different parts of the world. It was the first time wed taken a break and it was really refreshing for us and helped our creativity lots. We then rehearsed and recorded the new record at the beginning of 2009 and now people are about to hear it.

Can you tell me a bit about your new album?

We recorded "In This Light..." in [producer] Flood's North London studio in Willesden. Flood was on the top of our list when we were compiling producers to work with. We recorded 20 songs in a six week period and chose the best nine that flowed and formed "In This Light And On This Evening"

Are you going in a new direction for the record?

I think the synths and different voices are the main thing people are going to pick up on this time round. By the end of touring an end we were pretty tired of writing and using our guitars so it was good and refreshing for us to use synths to write. When Flood got involved he really pushed some of those ideas through and that's where we ended up.

What are some of the influences on the record?

We take influences from everywhere. We love listening to old and new records. Records we have been listening to more recently include Talking Heads - Remain In Light, LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver, Depeche Mode - Violater and Caberet Voltaire - Micro-Phonies to name a few.

"Papillion" is the first single - what was it written about?

Papillon is kind of about escaping. It's the most obvious pop single we've done. It is a reference to the film - that's most probably why it's got the name!