Editors 

Manchester Academy

October 22

EDITORS are one of the first bands I properly fell in love with.

This probably gives away my age, but in my mid teens the Birmingham band’s first album, The Back Room, captured my imagination.

The record with its moody, post-punk riffs - which have often been lazily compared with Joy Division and Interpol - did not reach the top 10 initially but six months later it eventually reached number two, with the band amassing a legion of followers.

But five albums in, the Editors we knew and loved have changed markedly.

Founding guitarist Chris Urbanowicz has left the band citing musical differences.

And following the move into electronica with third record In This Light and On This Evening, the group also needed a full time keyboardist.

Now on tour to promote their fifth album, In Dream, the band opened with the album's broody opening track No Harm, showcasing the lower echelons of lead vocalist Tom Smith's astounding vocal range.

Although many of the tracks from the new record deal with serious and sometimes dark subject matter, the idea that Editors sit in darkened rooms black clad listening to Unknown Pleasures on a loop is long gone.

Perhaps the Joy Division comparisons also came from Smith's frenetic on stage persona, with Smith's arms and hips achieving contortions reminiscent of Ian Curtis, which mere mortals would be proud of.

The band's early period is not forgotten, with hit singles Munich and Bullets receiving a rapturous reception from the sell out crowd, and an acoustic version of Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors getting the audience singing.

The fact that there are more synthesisers on stage than guitars shows you where Editors as a band are heading.

When In This Light and on This Evening came out, diehard fans including myself were surprised at the departure and change in musical direction, but the album has proved to be one of their best, with lead single Papillon and album tracks Bricks and Mortar and Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool channelling the spirit of electro rockers Clinic and Ladytron.

This musical fork in the road has continued with previous album The Weight of Your Love, and more so with the current record.

It marks a return to form for Editors, who have once more embraced their electro side with tracks such as Life Is a Fear.

They should be applauded for not standing still and exploring they creative limits.

Some fans may have been put off by the change but it has made the group a more rounded proposition with a much bigger sound.

And after not seeing the band live since the release of their second album, my love of the group has certainly been rekindled by the rousing 90 minute set.