Editors

Editors are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 2002, built around the songwriting partnership of vocalist and guitarist Tom Smith and guitarist Chris Urbanowicz, alongside bassist Russell Leetch and drummer Ed Lay. Signed to Kitchenware Records, they became part of a mid-2000s wave of British guitar bands drawing influence from post-punk and early alternative rock. Their 2005 debut The Back Room was a direct, dark guitar record that drew inevitable comparisons to Joy Division and Interpol, propelled by Tom Smith's resonant baritone and a series of intense, driving singles. The record reached number one in the UK and launched the band to immediate commercial success. An End Has a Start (2007) debuted at number one and went platinum in the UK, followed by In This Light and on This Evening (2009), which moved the band toward more atmospheric, keyboard-driven production. The band continued to evolve across subsequent records — The Weight of Your Love (2013), In Dream (2015), Violence (2018), and EBM (2022) — incorporating influences ranging from ambient electronics to industrial music while maintaining their reputation as a powerful live act. Editors have sold millions of records across Europe and have remained a consistent presence in British festival lineups for two decades, their sound evolving from post-punk guitar band to something more expansive and atmospheric without losing the emotional intensity that defined their early work.