Album Review: Editors - The Weight Of Your Love

The Weight Of Your Love is an unfortunate example of a band struggling to rediscover their identity. The fourth album from the Editors is a rather bland jumble of songs that lack the cohesiveness and sentiment needed to engage listeners and impress longtime fans.

There are some highlights lyrically on the album, like the intro to What Is This Thing Called Love, where frontman Tom Smith laments 'I've been your lover for the last time/All the pretending, God knows that we tried' against a backdrop of strings; however these moments are few and far between. The absurd chorus on Hyena ('Laugh with me hyena/Laugh with me hyena'), or the flavourless songwriting on Sugar ('There's sugar on your soul/You're like no one I know') really do reflect the album's lack of emotional engagement.

Sound-wise, there has been an attempt to move from nostalgic, post-punk riffs and haunting, echo-laden vocals to something that wouldn't be out of place in a stadium rock show. First single, A Ton Of Love, sees Smith echoing his inner Bono, in the catchy, U2-esque rock-anthem, and the previously mentioned Hyena at least gives Smith a chance to show off his impressive vocals through its huge chorus.

The problem with The Weight Of Your Love is that the band are trying to cover too many styles at the one time, resulting in an album that doesn't quite know what it wants to be. There is a lack of heart, a lack of integrity on The Weight Of Your Love that unfortunately does hinder the positive elements of the album.