Editors An End Has A Start by: Steve Scully Mon:23-Jul-07 Label: Fader Year: 2007 WB rating 73 out of 100

Don’t believe the Editors, they don’t have it all that bad. With an album under their belt already, 2006’s highly acclaimed The Black Room, these gloomy lads from Birmingham could have been forgiven for a bit of self-indulgent happiness on their follow-up (cf The Dears’ painfully joyful 2006 release, Gang Of Losers, follow-up to the brilliantly depressing No Cities Left). Full of epic ballads akin to fellow countrymen Coldplay, with the new wave derivativeness of Interpol, An End Has a Start is full-sounding, well-produced, and packed with anthemic, spine-tingling choruses, but at its heart, it’s a miserable record.
 
‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ is the album’s first and best song. Showcasing the band’s more idiosyncratic qualities, the song is as contrived a power ballad as they come. The verses are an exercise in minimalism, something this band doesn’t do too often at all; piano, vocals and a powerful, Joy Division rhythm introduce the song, with bass and guitars soaring towards the chorus, which is as glorious and heavily-produced as any U2 song. There’s even a choir introduced in the bridge, completing the over-the-top, no-holds-barred approach. Again, in title track ‘An End Has A Start’, there’s no end to the influences you can cite: this time, they’re evoking a post punk, Morrissey-ish edginess to the mix. Singing of “broken hearts smashed on the floor” and using imagery of self-destruction like “smokers outside the hospital doors,” Tom Smith’s lyrics are a tad heavy-handed to say the least. With a vocal style exhibiting a mix of influences – Ian Curtis, Paul Banks and Elbow’s Guy Garvey to name a few – he recites his impressions of fatalism with a rather graceful melodic touch.

On Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips included the wonderful, often-overlooked ‘Do You Realize?’. This track, along with many other memorable qualities, contained the lyrics: “do you realize/that everyone you know/someday will die?” Wayne Coyne sang this like the quiet soothsayer, trying to break the news softly that the world will, eventually end. Editors, in ‘The Weight of The World’ echo such a sentiment, but from another perspective, and without the deft, empathic hand: “keep a light on those you love/they will be there when you die.” This song also parallels The Flaming Lips’ in its obscure sense of hope: “every little piece of your life/ will mean something to someone.” It may be a comforting thought, but it does little to alleviate Editors’ overwhelming anxiety; it’s more the hopeful musings of someone clutching at straws.

‘Well Worn Hand’ is a perfect antidote to the album’s consistent sonic assault. In this quiet, piano-based ballad, Smith’s soaring vocals are clean and utterly compelling. “I don’t want to go out on my own any more/I can’t face the night like I used to before/take my well worn hand/let’s lock ourselves away/we’ll never ever step outside/we’ll curl up in a ball and hide,” he sings, bringing the album to a close with subtlety and determination. There’s more heart in this track than in any other on the An End Has a Start, and you can sense some sort of vindication as he sings inclusively of ‘we’: he’s miserable, but he’s not alone in it.

So, it’s a depressing listen, but there is a sense of schadenfreude, a somewhat cathartic elation in the utter despair that Tom Smith and his friends evoke. You may be knee-deep in death and human frailties, but the album title says it all: an end has a start. For all the sad and depressive qualities of the album, it’s all really for one overriding purpose: emphasising the good in life. For the moment, Editors are happy to remain unhappy, which I’m sure will delight their fans world-wide, but maybe next time Editors can save us the drudgery and cheer up a bit.