Editors’ ambitious new songs struck an awkward balance with their older material at the Ogden on Saturday. Photo by Joe McCabe.
Often, when the transition of a band’s overall sound takes a sharp turn, it can result in a stumble from their previous stature — and some bands never recover from the experience. U.K. act made a course change in their sound with the release of their third album, 2009’s “In This Light and on This Evening.” It remains to be seen whether their transition will be a successful one, but if their show at last Saturday night showed anything, it was how awkwardly the band was remaining in the midst of that transition.
“In This Light and on This Evening” shows off a style of music that has its heart firmly placed in synth-pop and electronica, rather than a guitar- and piano-driven style, and the live performance felt a little off-kilter. The band’s 80-minute set wasn’t poor or misguided by any stretch, but the overall impression I got from them that night was that, while they’re enamored of all of the new toys their current direction allows them to play, the sound they used to break into the music world on the last two albums just doesn’t quite mesh with that direction yet.
Where their sound previously was anchored by guitarist Chris Urbanowicz’s high pitched, sweeping guitar style, with a slight Johnny Marr influence, and frontman Tom Smith’s powerful vocals and piano, their new electronic synth pop seemed less bombastic, and at times a bit tinny. Accompanied by drum machines, drummer Ed Lay and bassist Russell Leetch’s rhythms traveled from Joy Division-meets-Beatles into a more catchy, albeit less bombastic, pop space.
The songs definitely still carried their characteristic anthemic atmosphere, enhanced by the way Smith emotes every word with his entire body — sometimes appearing almost like an unhealthily skinny Joe Cocker — but the tinkering on sacked synthesizers seemed to almost get in the way on the new material.
They started the set with the title song from the new album, and alternated between new and old material pretty evenly from there on out. The balance of new and old songs contributed to the setap clumsy feeling, actually magnifying the differences in their sound. Songs from the first two records such as “Lights,” “Munich,” “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors,” “Escape the Nest” and “The Racing Rats” still carried a heightened pall of frantic obsession and crushing drama, piqued with Urbanowicz’s stomping as he thrashed on his Rickenbocker. Conversely, new material like “The Big Exit,” “Bricks and Mortar” and “You Don’t Know Love” ended up sounding more like something between Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and the next Bond movie soundtrack. Not a bad mix, but not quite as vital and unforgiving as in the past, either.
One highlight from the new material was “Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool,” during which Smith seemed to reach a whole separate level of drama in his bodily emphasis of the music. Live, this song has no trouble reaching inside you — something the recorded version sadly lacks.
Follow Reverb on Twitter! !
Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s explorations at , and his giglist at .
Joe McCabe is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb. Check out his .
