Back in the early days of the last decade, Editors were one of the breakout English acts of the indie-rock revival (documented in the recent Meet Me In the Bathroom), reviving dark Anglo New Wave. And like many of those artists, they slipped after that, only to more recently find their footing with 2015’s In Dream (QRO review). Thankfully, that continues with Violence, wrought in the right ways that Editors can do.
“Wrought” so often leads, or even directly means, “overwrought,” but Editors are able to deliver emotion without going overboard. It’s best on Violence (and in general with the band) when they add some pressure behind it, such as on the title track and “Magazine”. Yet they can also do slower material, the grandeur close “Belong”, or the post-apocalyptic father-son road song “No Sound But the Wind”, which brings to mind Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or The Walking Dead’s Rick & Carl (R.I.P. Carl).
Editors do still rely a bit too heavily on synths at times, but that’s to be expected in today’s keys-heavy day & age, and Violence can’t have the breakthrough appeal of their debut way back when. But Editors are delivering what you want from them.
