In This Light And On This Evening Review

Released: Oct 12, 2009
Genre: Post-punk Revival
Label: Kitchenware Records
Number Of Tracks: 9
There's some good musicianship on here, although the whole synth/keyboard thing does wear thin after a while.

Sound:	6
Lyrics:	8
Impression:	6
Overall rating:	6.7
Users rating:	7.9
Comments:	8

overall: 6.7

Featured review by: UG Team, on october 21, 2009

Sound: From the word go, this album sounds very much like Joy Division and New Order. The opening song (the album's title track) has the heavy sound of songs like 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', as the sound is very keyboard-driven. This sound throughout the album is the mainly based around the whole electronic sound (keyboards, synth electro drums etc.), displaying only a few guitar/bassline appearances.

Due to this over-riding electronic outlook, some of the album starts sounding quite samey. The first three songs (the title track, 'Bricks and Mortar' and 'Papillon') all revolve around being slightly fast paced. The third, 'Papillon', is extremely reminiscent of New Order's 'Blue Monday', in many respects. The following track, 'You Don't Know Love' follows this feel quite a lot. It would be pointless for me to continue listing the songs that sound like this, as about half of the album is like this.

Some areas of these particular songs (musically) are incredibly catchy, but most it would be quite boring without the lead vocal. And without the few tracks breaking the album up.. Tracks like 'The Boxer', 'Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool' and 'Walk The Fleet Road' break the album up nicely and provide the greater high-points. Completely different to all tracks previous to it, 'The Boxer' sounds almost Spaghetti-Western styled, 'Blood Drool' is a great alt. rock number and 'Walk The Fleet Road' provides a eased ending to the album (although the ending to the song itself is quite disappointing).

Overall, there's some good musicianship on here, although the whole synth/keyboard thing does wear thin after a while. When there's only synthesized instruments driving the entire band, they lose some emotion and feel in the music. This could maybe have been prevented with some real drums/bass maybe..? // 6

Lyrics and Singing: From what I can tell, the lyrics remain quite good through the entire album. There are no real low points, other than the "I swear to God.." bits on the first track, which get very repetitive, very quickly. The vocals themselves are quite expectional. I have no doubt that the lead vocalist is very tallented to carry off such diverse vocal styles. As I mentioned in the 'sound' section, the band have clear echos of Joy Division, and that's reflected in the vocals too. The singer (I believe he's called Tom Smith..?) sounds like a modern day version of Ian Curtis - so much so that it's actualy quite frightening. The only REAL let-down that I can find with the vocals is the backing vocals which (although they work with the music) just sound fairly horrific to me in places - but that's me! // 8

Impression: Personally, I became interested in hearing this album when I heard 'Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool'. After hearing the rest of the album, I wouldn't personally go out and buy it. This kind of music is a very precise aquired taste. I know for a fact that if you liked Joy Division, New Order and other late 70's/early 80's electro groups of a similar style, you'll like this album. If you don't like them and are a general Indie fan, this album could possibly be quite hit or miss. // 6

- Anthony Bentley (c) 2009

Comments

[Friendly Stoat]

I love Editors, and although this album isn't bad, it's a hell of a dissapointment.

[patch17]

i'd give it more like 7 or 8/10, Bricks and Mortar is the best song on the album

[richard_edwards]

Bricks and Mortar is my favourite so far too, I'm liking it, it's a welcome change from Editors' usual format.
Although I listened the old stuff straight after listening to ITLAOTE and I felt right at home.
I'm feeling quite detached from this album musically, mainly because of the lack of guitar.

[denday831]

the editors are the kind of band that play festivals before it goes dark. but not because theyre old like status quo. they're in the same league as snow patrol with their chord progressions (one or two per song)

[simmy17]

"When there's only synthesized instruments driving the entire band, they lose some emotion and feel in the music. This could maybe have been prevented with some real drums/bass maybe..?"
That is bias.

[Kackao]

I loved the album "An end has an start" but this whole synth thing really sucks imo. I heard an Version of Papillon where Tom Smith just plays acoustic guitar to it (on MTV Home germany), that was a good thing and also the earlier album was without this synth crap. I get headache from that.

[pooponmyguitar]

mos def this album wasent as good as i expected

[jxmxsc]

I must admit when I first heard the Back Room and An End Has A Start I wasn't sure about the quality of the album, but both soon grew on me to be my favourite albums. I've heard this album several times now and I may must say its having the same effect despite the amount of synth. Songs like Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool and the title track are classic tunes!