Editors, an alternative rock band from England, released its fifth studio album last Friday, a 10-track record that has eloquently fused together sounds and techniques from indie rock, synthetic pop and post-punk genres to create a masterpiece.
Several tracks such as the opening numbers “No Harm” and “Ocean of Night” focus on catchy pop and synthetic instrumentation while still maintaining the integrity of darker themes and commentaries on humanity that are typically associated with punk rock songs. The former will have you bobbing your head as you sing along: “My world just expands / Things break in my hands.”
Tracks that veer more towards the post-punk and indie rock sounds include songs such as “All the Kings” and “Forgiveness.” The former repeatedly focuses on such themes as loneliness and depression, expressed in lines such as “Send me all your failures, all your scars / Seen it all burn down, we dance to the sparks / We dance to the beating of your broken heart.” The latter can only be described as hauntingly beautiful, a graceful piece that both lyrically and melodically will pierce your very soul: “Wake up, walk on, you are alone / The world you’re in’s too heavy … forgiveness makes fools of us.”
Best Song Award has to go to “Salvation,” which utilizes a pop-synth sound within an orchestral-like opening, and verses that build up a feverish anticipation that explodes in the chorus, leaving the listener in an empowered state of awe, tears streaming as you’re screaming at the top of your lungs: “Son, you were made to suffer / Oh, but the morning comes / Oh, when the light is failing / Temptation takes you to / Salvation.”
The thoughtful lyrical components of these pieces nicely compliment the melancholic counterparts in each song, expressing sentiments of pain, fear and deep sorrow. Editors brilliantly merged these dark themes to the upbeat pops and beats of synthetic materials to leave the listener with a dichotomy that somehow blends perfectly, and an album to withstand the test of time and your ever-expanding playlist.
