Seeing as every band slapped with the "neo-post-punk" label over the last ten years has inevitably drawn comparisons to Joy Division, it's refreshing that Editors have given up the ghost so to speak on their third effort. After succumbing to the sophomore jinx on the ho-hum The End Has a Start, the UK band has gotten their collective heads out of Manchester's ass, showed Jacknife Lee the door, brought brilliant Depeche Mode producer Flood in and replaced six-strings with synths.
Sure, Editors frontman Tom Smith again serves up his pitch-perfect Ian Curtis impression, but now he's found more exhilarating music to help him manipulate it. His voice falls to a processed hush under the opening electro-goth strains of the title track then resurges to its familiar baritone on follow-up "Bricks and Mortar"--a Kraut-inspired beauty that owes just as much to John Foxx as it does Neu!.
While Smith & Co. may overuse a keyboard riff or two on In This Light, we shouldn't really let that sully this dark, majestic detour. Subtle numbers like the "The Boxer" indulge both the pretty explorations of Japan and the dystopian melodies of Gary Numan while "Papillon" most closely resembles Flood's trailblazing work on DM's Violator. As one observer put it, this band is "Boy Division" no more.