I went to live in Huddersfield when I was 17, away at this music place. I’d lived in the county pretty much all my life so when I first moved to this industrial heartland of years gone by it was a little bit daunting, with its mills and canals and expanses of terraced housing in the shadow of the moors, it wasn’t quite the rural life I’d grown up with.
Within a very short space of time though, I’d fallen for Huddersfield. Despite it’s slightly downcast, even dour exterior, there was this underlying beauty about the place, and something that even now I love to revisit.
It’s quite a while since we heard anything from Birminghams Editors. The band, Tom Smith (vocals, guitar, paino), Russell Leetch (bass, Synths) drummer Ed Lay, lead guitarist Justin Lockey and Elliott Williams on Keys, Synths guitars and backing vocals, have made three brilliant albums of (you knew it was coming, right?) slightly downcast, dour even indie rock that I love to revisit.
Seems its not just me, with two of their three albums going platinum, selling millions (yes, literally millions) of copies worldwide, not to mention receiving a Brit nomination for 2007’s number one album An End has a start, and gatecrashing the single’s charts on several occasions, most notably with the brilliant top ten hit ‘Smokers outside hospital doors’.
July will see the release of the bands fourth album, The Weight of your love’, and the first indication of what we can expect comes in the form of new a single, A ton of love’ out on June 17th. The single itself sets of with this Bunnymen sort of guitar intro before Smith’s unmistakable vocal kicks in accompanied by this throbbing bass. It’s a ride of an indie rock song, and shows the band have lost none of their ability to write memorable and catchy records.
It’s backed by the sting, which again draws from the Bunnymen, Joy Division influences, this slightly downcast musical vision is made thrilling by its (and you know if you read this blog at all how much I hate this word) epic nature, and these sort of searing keyboards that interject the song.
It’s probably not the greatest compliment they’ve ever received to be compared favourably to Huddersfield, but from me, its one of the greatest. Editors, welcome back.
