The Weight of Your Love
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The Weight of Your Love is the fourth studio album from British recording group Editors. It was released on 28 June 2013 by PIAS Recordings. The first single "A Ton of Love" first aired on 6 May 2013 on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show, with the music video being released on the same day.[1]
This is the first Editors album recorded after the departure of lead guitarist Chris Urbanowicz on 16 April 2012. The band has released a statement on their official website saying it was "a decision entirely based upon future musical direction" and that Urbanowicz's departure was "entirely amicable".[2] This is also the first album to feature new band members Justin Lockey and Elliott Williams.[3]
Overview
On the first recording sessions of the band's fourth studio album, frontman Tom Smith stated that it had been "a long, hard couple of years and it got pretty dark because whenever we tried creating new songs it wasn’t good enough. Chris's heart wasn’t in it any more. For a year, we'd leave rehearsals feeling very negative and uninspired."[4]
However, in April 2012, the band stated on their official site that they were "super excited about working with the core of the band as a three-piece and trying to introduce new elements to Editors sound."[5][6] In December of the same year, the band revealed on a Daily Star interview that they were ready to begin recording their fourth album after the departure of Chris Urbanowicz.[2][4]
Lead singer Tom Smith also said that "I've talked for a long time about my love of American bands like R.E.M. and Arcade Fire, and that's the type of sound our new songs are going towards. They're more straightforward than our last album. That was more experimental, whereas the new songs could be played on an acoustic guitar. I don't know what a hit is any more, but these songs feel very classic and immediate."[2]
The album was produced by Jacquire King and mixed by Craig Silvey.[1] The band also worked with producer Flood, who had produced their previous album, In This Light and on This Evening.[5][6]
The album was mostly recorded live. Regarding the sound of the album, lead singer Tom Smith stated that it "[has] a foot in that alt rock/Americana world" and that it feels "untouchable at times". Lyrically, the album focuses on "love songs... that don't adhere to the traditional love song type".[1] Smith explained, "If I ever find myself writing something too straightforward, I try to twist it, so it ends up odd and baffling."[4]
Promotion and release
To promote the album, the band will make a series of festival performances across the summer of 2013, including headlining slots at Werchter Festival and Lowlands Festival, as well as several festivals in the United Kingdom, such as the Glastonbury Festival, T in the Park and Reading Festival.[1] In Germany they played at Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival
The lead single "A Ton of Love", was made available as a download from midnight on 6 May 2013, included in the pre-order of the album on the iTunes Store. The single was released on 7" vinyl on 24 June 2013.[1]
A promotional single "The Weight", was released on 8 July 2013 in Germany within Sonic Seducer music magazine.[7]
The second single from the album, "Formaldehyde", was released on 2 September 2013. A music video for the song premiered on YouTube on 8 August 2013.[8]
The third single to promote the album, "Honesty", will be released on 25 November 2013.[9]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 55/100[10] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
musicOMH | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 4/10[15] |
PopMatters | 6/10[16] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Slant | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
′′The Weight of your Love" divided critics upon its release. While it was considered an excellent new approach on the band′s usual formula by some reviewers, other press comments called the album a decline compared to its predecessors. As a result of this discrepancy, The Weight of Your Love received generally mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 55 out of 100, which indicates "mixed reviews ", based on 22 reviews.[10]
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Weight" | 4:32 |
2. | "Sugar" | 4:16 |
3. | "A Ton of Love" | 3:58 |
4. | "What Is This Thing Called Love" | 4:12 |
5. | "Honesty" | 4:49 |
6. | "Nothing" | 5:15 |
7. | "Formaldehyde" | 3:50 |
8. | "Hyena" | 3:39 |
9. | "Two Hearted Spider" | 4:30 |
10. | "The Phone Book" | 4:31 |
11. | "Bird of Prey" | 4:46 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Sting" | 4:08 |
2. | "Get Low" | 3:30 |
3. | "Comrade Spill My Blood" | 3:59 |
4. | "Hyena" (acoustic version) | 3:44 |
5. | "Nothing" (acoustic version) | 5:32 |
Charts
Chart (2013) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[21] | 10 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[22] | 1 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[23] | 4 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[24] | 21 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] | 1 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] | 43 |
French Albums (SNEP)[27] | 39 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[28] | 4 |
Greek Albums (IFPI Greece)[29] | 7 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[30] | 9 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] | 9 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[32] | 24 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[33] | 10 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] | 43 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] | 4 |
UK Albums (OCC)[36] | 6 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2013) | Position |
---|---|
Belgian (Flanders) Albums Chart | 7 |
Belgian (Wallonia) Albums Chart | 71 |
Dutch Albums Chart[37] | 45 |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Germany[38] | 28 June 2013 | CD, digital download | PIAS Recordings |
United Kingdom[39] | 1 July 2013 | ||
Poland[40] | |||
United States[41] | 9 July 2013 |
References
- ^ a b c d e "EDITORS unveil new single 'A Ton of Love' and announce new album – #AltSounds". Hangout.altsounds.com.
- ^ a b c "Editors finally ready to record fourth album | News". Nme.Com. 23 December 2012.
- ^ Thane, Rich. "Editors name new album, release lead single 'A Ton of Love'". The Line of Best Fit.
- ^ a b c Carr, Kim (19 December 2012). "Simply The Best 7 Days A Week :: Playlist :: Editors were rocked". Daily Star.
- ^ a b "Editors announce album release and unveil new song 'A Ton of Love' – listen | News". Nme.Com.
- ^ a b "Editors' guitarist Chris Urbanowicz quits the band | News". Nme.Com. 16 April 2012.
- ^ "Sonic Seducer Musikmagazin: Gothic, Wave, EBM / Electro & Alternative – SONIC SEDUCER 07-08/2013 mit exklusiver CD von den EDITORS". Sonic-seducer.de. 28 June 2013.
- ^ "Editors – Formaldehyde (Directed By Ben Wheatley)". YouTube. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ^ "Editors – New single 'Honesty' released November 25th". editorsofficial.com. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
- ^ a b "The Weight of Your Love Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-weight-of-your-love-mw0002545044
- ^ http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jun/27/editors-weight-your-love-review
- ^ a b c http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-weight-of-your-love/editors/critic-reviews
- ^ http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/editors-the-weight-of-your-love
- ^ http://www.nme.com/reviews/editors/14545
- ^ http://www.popmatters.com/review/172842-editors-the-weight-of-your-love/
- ^ http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/editors-the-weight-of-your-love
- ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-weight-of-your-love-20130715
- ^ "The Weight of Your Love (inkl. Bonustrack / exklusiv bei Amazon.de): Editors: Amazon.de: MP3-Downloads". Amazon.de. 1 January 1970.
- ^ Products. "Editors – Products". Editorsofficial.com.
- ^ "Austriancharts.at – Editors – The Weight of Your Love" (in German). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Editors – The Weight of Your Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Editors – The Weight of Your Love" (in French). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Editors – The Weight of Your Love". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Editors – The Weight of Your Love" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Editors: The Weight of Your Love" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Editors – The Weight of Your Love". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
- ^ "Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart – Εβδομάδα: 29/2013" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
- ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 27, 2013". Chart-Track. IRMA.
- ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 27 (dal 01-07-2013 al 07-07-2013)" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
- ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Editors – The Weight of Your Love". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Spanishcharts.com – {{{artist}}} – {{{album}}}". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Editors – The Weight of Your Love". Hung Medien.
- ^ July 2013/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ http://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=2013&cat=a
- ^ "Editors" (in German). Rough Trade Distribution. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ "The Weight of Your Love". Play It Again Sam. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ "ZPAV – OLiS". OLiS. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
- ^ "Amazon.com: Weight of Your Love: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 29 June 2013.