The Editors announce details of their eighth studio album today, Surface, Echo & Soundwhich is scheduled for release on October 30, 2026 via Play It Again Sam. Along with the announcement, the band also presents the new single 'The Rush'taken from the album.
After EBM of 2022, made in collaboration with electronic producer Benjamin John Power, better known as Blanck Mass, with Surface, Echo & Sound the Editors have pushed themselves into completely new territories.
When the band reunited in the summer of 2025 to work on the follow-up to EBMafter three albums conceived and recorded mainly as studio projects, he felt the desire to return to a more natural approach, which harked back to the group's beginnings: sitting in a rehearsal room in Stafford, facing each other, developing the songs together.
As already happened in last year's solo album, There Is Nothing In The Dark That Isn't There In The Lightfrontman Tom Smith has taken a stripped-back, acoustic-guitar-based approach to the Editors' new material as well. He brought a number of songs to the band to play together, experimenting with different solutions and letting the songs find their natural direction.
Speaking about the making of the record, Smith said:
«It was a very productive summer. Most of the time it was sunny, we were in the very green Gloucestershire countryside, not far from where I live, in a small and anonymous industrial area: practically the opposite of being at Berghain!»
According to Smith, 'The Rush' tells an imaginary scene in a bar, in which two people talk about life, drink and reflect on its ups and downs.
«The idea of finding comfort in the people close to me, friends, loved ones and family, is a theme that comes back again and again. In a way it's a theme that runs through everything I write.”
The song features Smith playing the mandolina tool that gives a more organic soul to Surface, Echo & Sound. Guitarist Justin Lockey, who also recorded and produced the album, explained: “It's not used in a folk way, but adds a warm element that manages to come through anywhere in the mix. As a sound texture it is certainly one of the protagonists of this album. A lot of the rhythms come from the mandolin and acoustic guitar as much as the drums.”
The single is accompanied by an official video shot in Tokyo and directed by Henry Ehara, known for works that emphasize bodily expression in cinema, exploring the physicality of movement and presence.
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Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
