Russell Leetch - Editors (28/06/2013)
As Editors prepare for the European festival season, The 59th Sound caught up with the bands bass player, Russell Leetch to take new albums, new beginnings and a return to Australia.
Editors’ daring new album, ‘The Weight Of Your Love’ is the first since parting ways with founding member Chris Urbanowicz. The band has since introduced two new members to the group. What was the transition period like, given the deeply ingrained friendships with the founding member and then the eventual inception of two new members?
It was tough; we went through a very awkward time. There had always been fractured moments between ourselves and Chris and I think after we finished touring ‘In This Light…’ we spent eight weeks recording and it didn’t go all that well and we need we had an issue than needed addressing. It was a tough decision, it’s not an easy task asking someone to leave the band but at the same time, we knew he wasn’t happy so it became push or jump, really.
It has been four years since the release of your last record, ‘In This Light And On This Evening’. Was this extra down time attributed to those internal issues and working on the dynamics with two new members?
To be honest, we took a long time deciding what to do with Chris. We’d been a band for a long time and there was kind of a year and half there that wasn’t good so once the decision was made to get the other guys in, we did the record in six months.
With the addition of a fifth member, how has this developed the bands sound and where are those extra hands made useful?
It’s interesting because you’ve got an extra pair of hands and they could potentially play a keyboard bit or a guitar bit and it’s important to realise the separation there. We have to think about the songs a little more which is great. We’d been in a rehearsal room for a year and a half where we wouldn’t talk at all and now with these new members, we can talk about music and get on with it.
For the new album, you chose to work with much lauded producer Jacquire King. King has work with an eclectic group of artists throughout his career but has more recently been credited with turning the likes of Kings Of Leon and Cold War Kids into stadium rock bands. Was this part of the attraction to working with King or was there an alternate motive?
The types of bands that he has worked with is quite varied, he’s worked with Tom Waits, Nora Jones, Modest Mouse, and Kings Of Leon. We just thought he’d record us well. He’s worked with all of these different artists, even someone like Tim Finn from Crowded House and we just thought, “he’s going to record these songs really well”. We’d done two initial sessions that hadn’t gone that well and we just thought we needed get far away from that and just go and record with someone who is going to take it with fresh ears.
In 2009, Editors released ‘In This Light And On This Evening’ which hinted at a more electronically subjective sound from the band. Lead vocalist Tom Smith has implied that the new album has a “foot in that alt. rock / Americana world” and of it feeling “untouchable at times”. Is that a fair synopsis of what fans can expect on ‘The Weight Of Your Love’?
It’s definitely not and ‘In This Light’ sort of record. The guitars are back; we have some brass sections, string sections… we wanted to let the songs speak for themselves. There’s definitely more of the sound of the band captured. It’s a very different record, I feel like we’ve made four very different records.
The album’s premise is “love songs that don’t adhere to traditional love song types”. With the word love itself appearing in the albums title and sprinkled throughout the albums song titles, is love a central theme throughout the album?
They are mostly love songs. Even the title, there is heaviness to it. They all take in certain aspects of those emotions and the lyrics are probably the most honest we’ve ever had.
Is there a tried and true song writing process Editors use and how has this evolved since the introduction of two new members?
Tom writes the lyrics and the basic chord structures and then gives it out to the band, that’s our initial starting to point. With two new members, it’s changed everything again and it’s a whole different ballpark again.
A song called ‘Nothing’ is said to be the albums centrepiece. Featuring extra production from Clint Mansell, the song was restored from its original state to become the albums most important track. Can you tell me about that songs journey?
We had a live version that we played at a couple of big festivals in Europe, and it was pretty good, we liked it, but it wasn’t quite right. When we got into the studio we just thought we’d have to do something with this which led us to thinking about having just the vocal of this song but backed completely by an orchestra, rather than the band. We sent the song to Clint Mansell who has done a lot of film scores (Requiem for a Dream), who we love and we have a Birmingham link as well. He loved it and agreed to do the score for it.
With success comes a great expectation. Do you think the band feels external pressure given the success of the previous releases and if so, how do you deal with that throughout the writing process?
We can’t really concentrate on it too much, otherwise you’d be aligning yourself with what’s on the radio at the time and I don’t think you can do that. We just hope that our fan base is strong and stays with us and we hope that it continues to grow.
With the band about to endure a chaotic European summer focusing around some of the world’s biggest festivals, when can starved Australian fans expect you to be back for a visit?
We had such a great time the last time we were there, which was 2010. We want to come back; it’s been too long. It will likely be in the New Year, your summer time. It’s a while away, but it always comes around quick. We’ve always had a brilliant time in Australia; particularly last time was a really memorable trip.
The Weight Of Your Love is released July 5th.
David Noordhoff
Editors’ daring new album, ‘The Weight Of Your Love’ is the first since parting ways with founding member Chris Urbanowicz. The band has since introduced two new members to the group. What was the transition period like, given the deeply ingrained friendships with the founding member and then the eventual inception of two new members?
It was tough; we went through a very awkward time. There had always been fractured moments between ourselves and Chris and I think after we finished touring ‘In This Light…’ we spent eight weeks recording and it didn’t go all that well and we need we had an issue than needed addressing. It was a tough decision, it’s not an easy task asking someone to leave the band but at the same time, we knew he wasn’t happy so it became push or jump, really.
It has been four years since the release of your last record, ‘In This Light And On This Evening’. Was this extra down time attributed to those internal issues and working on the dynamics with two new members?
To be honest, we took a long time deciding what to do with Chris. We’d been a band for a long time and there was kind of a year and half there that wasn’t good so once the decision was made to get the other guys in, we did the record in six months.
With the addition of a fifth member, how has this developed the bands sound and where are those extra hands made useful?
It’s interesting because you’ve got an extra pair of hands and they could potentially play a keyboard bit or a guitar bit and it’s important to realise the separation there. We have to think about the songs a little more which is great. We’d been in a rehearsal room for a year and a half where we wouldn’t talk at all and now with these new members, we can talk about music and get on with it.
For the new album, you chose to work with much lauded producer Jacquire King. King has work with an eclectic group of artists throughout his career but has more recently been credited with turning the likes of Kings Of Leon and Cold War Kids into stadium rock bands. Was this part of the attraction to working with King or was there an alternate motive?
The types of bands that he has worked with is quite varied, he’s worked with Tom Waits, Nora Jones, Modest Mouse, and Kings Of Leon. We just thought he’d record us well. He’s worked with all of these different artists, even someone like Tim Finn from Crowded House and we just thought, “he’s going to record these songs really well”. We’d done two initial sessions that hadn’t gone that well and we just thought we needed get far away from that and just go and record with someone who is going to take it with fresh ears.
In 2009, Editors released ‘In This Light And On This Evening’ which hinted at a more electronically subjective sound from the band. Lead vocalist Tom Smith has implied that the new album has a “foot in that alt. rock / Americana world” and of it feeling “untouchable at times”. Is that a fair synopsis of what fans can expect on ‘The Weight Of Your Love’?
It’s definitely not and ‘In This Light’ sort of record. The guitars are back; we have some brass sections, string sections… we wanted to let the songs speak for themselves. There’s definitely more of the sound of the band captured. It’s a very different record, I feel like we’ve made four very different records.
The album’s premise is “love songs that don’t adhere to traditional love song types”. With the word love itself appearing in the albums title and sprinkled throughout the albums song titles, is love a central theme throughout the album?
They are mostly love songs. Even the title, there is heaviness to it. They all take in certain aspects of those emotions and the lyrics are probably the most honest we’ve ever had.
Is there a tried and true song writing process Editors use and how has this evolved since the introduction of two new members?
Tom writes the lyrics and the basic chord structures and then gives it out to the band, that’s our initial starting to point. With two new members, it’s changed everything again and it’s a whole different ballpark again.
A song called ‘Nothing’ is said to be the albums centrepiece. Featuring extra production from Clint Mansell, the song was restored from its original state to become the albums most important track. Can you tell me about that songs journey?
We had a live version that we played at a couple of big festivals in Europe, and it was pretty good, we liked it, but it wasn’t quite right. When we got into the studio we just thought we’d have to do something with this which led us to thinking about having just the vocal of this song but backed completely by an orchestra, rather than the band. We sent the song to Clint Mansell who has done a lot of film scores (Requiem for a Dream), who we love and we have a Birmingham link as well. He loved it and agreed to do the score for it.
With success comes a great expectation. Do you think the band feels external pressure given the success of the previous releases and if so, how do you deal with that throughout the writing process?
We can’t really concentrate on it too much, otherwise you’d be aligning yourself with what’s on the radio at the time and I don’t think you can do that. We just hope that our fan base is strong and stays with us and we hope that it continues to grow.
With the band about to endure a chaotic European summer focusing around some of the world’s biggest festivals, when can starved Australian fans expect you to be back for a visit?
We had such a great time the last time we were there, which was 2010. We want to come back; it’s been too long. It will likely be in the New Year, your summer time. It’s a while away, but it always comes around quick. We’ve always had a brilliant time in Australia; particularly last time was a really memorable trip.
The Weight Of Your Love is released July 5th.
David Noordhoff