Editors - Violence

Rating:

Overall, the album feels like it’s missing something.

‘Violence’ is something a little bit different from Editors, it’s sleek electro sound wouldn’t sound out of place on the Blade Runner soundtrack and with its pounding drums, pulsing synths, and Tom Smith’s soaring vocals. Opening track ‘Cold’ draws in and dispels the notion that this is just another Editors album, and it’s almost possible to hear the pulsing neon lights on the album’s title track.

However, at times it feels almost too forced. ‘Darkness at the Door’ sounds huge but lacks the heart to give it that edge whilst single ‘Magazine’ stumbles around between what works on the album in terms of its massive synth punches in the chorus and what doesn’t with its lack of conviction.

The album’s high point comes with ‘Counting Spooks’ initially sounding like filler but then turning into what makes the album tick with a futuristic twinge covered with a hedonistic filter. Overall, the album feels like it’s missing something to give it that final push to stand out amongst the band’s back catalogue but that doesn’t mean that their spark has burned out just yet. Josh Williams