Birmingham boys: Home is where the art is

When all else had crumbled, the familiar streets of Birmingham were their rock. The band, who formed at Staffordshire University, needed a sense of belonging after reaching their lowest ebb. Guitarist Chris Urbanowicz had left in acrimonious circumstances. In an sequence of events repeated thousands of times by thousands of bands, a parting of the ways had become inevitable because of 'musical differences'. The band's eagerly-anticipated fourth album had been delayed, they'd almost missed the chance to play the biggest gig of their lives and their future was uncertain.

Hope springs eternal, however, and The Editors regrouped. Back in their home city, they found the strength to carry on.

Drummer Ed Lay takes up the story: "It started to unravel at the end of the last album, In This Light and on This Evening.

"We all enjoyed working but our personalities just drifted and there was nothing to bring us back. We're great friends and we've been together for ten years but our working relationship completely disintegrated.

"Something drastic had to happen. It was difficult at the time to see whether we'd made the right decision in parting company with Chris."

That's something of an understatement. Editors were a dysfunctional, disunited shambles. Their future hung in the balance.

"The period that followed Chris's departure was one of panic. We had to play Rock Werchter 2013, in Belgium. We'd been booked in to headline that. It's one of the biggest music festivals in the world. We were really concerned about how we would do it. We had lost a member and it was touch and go."

Editors decided against taking the Suede route, and seeking a like-for-like replacement. Instead, they decided to reinvent themselves by creating a new sound with two new guitarists.

"We didn't just want to fumble through the festival. We wanted to make a statement. We got two people in and they really sparked off the new Editors. They came in with new ideas and drive. Initially, they were just going to play with us for a couple of shows. But we found ourselves working so well that it carried on. The songs developed and they became integral to the band."

The personnel change gave the band new energy.

Editors managed to reinvent themselves by returning to their roots. "Obviously, we started our careers in Staffordshire, at the University. Then we moved to Birmingham, where we lived for a long, long time.

"That always felt like an important part of the band, but it took on a new importance when the band started to unravel. We rehearsed in Birmingham, in Selly Oak, and wrote the whole of the new record in the rehearsal room. Because we'd been through such a tough time with the Chris scenario, we had to rebuild our confidence. We reconnected with the Birmingham people. You know, for us, it's like a family thing. When things are going well, you tend not to think about your family. But when things fall apart, they are the most important people in the world. Birmingham was like that for us. It was good to reconnect."

The Brummie connection is evident, too, on stand-out track Nothing, an elegiac which was recorded by former Pop Will Eat Itself mainman Clint Mansell.

"That song had been kicking around for a while but we'd been unable to record it. Then Jacquire came up with a blinding suggestion to strip it back and put a string arrangement in. We talked about who could arrange it and Clint was the first name on the list. He's a Hollywood A-list string arranger, a Brummie and he can't read music. He was perfect for it. Clint also has a darkness about him. There's a slight rub with everything that he does. It was a long shot but he was a friend of a friend of Tom's and he was amazingly appreciative of being asked."

The results of that, and other tracks on The Weight of Your Love, are astounding. Focused, confidence and self-assured; it is the sound of one of Britain's great rock bands at the peak of their powers. Re-energised, re-enthused and renewed: Birmingham's finest are about to soar.

The Weight Of Your Love is released on July 1 on Play It Again Sam.