Editors tour behind new album, hit 9:30 Club

Despite having consecutive top-selling albums in their home country of England, the indie rock band Editors weren’t satisfied. The result of the group’s rejection of complacency is its latest release, October’s more synthesized “In This Light and on This Evening.” “It’s to keep it exciting for us,” said Editors’ lead singer, Tom Smith, whose band performs at the 9:30 Club on Sunday. “We want to shake it up a bit and test ourselves. Music should be fun.”

The Birmingham-based Editors — which include Chris Urbanowicz on guitar, Russell Leetch on bass and Ed Lay on percussion — burst on the music scene with 2005’s “The Back Room,” which went platinum and peaked at No. 2 on the charts in the U.K. The group’s second album, 2007’s “An End Has a Start,” also went platinum in England and was No. 1. The band’s sound has been compared to the likes of Joy Division and Interpol, and “In This Light” brings to mind Depeche Mode.

In helping facilitate a different sound, Editors brought in Grammy Award-winning producer Flood, whose credits include U2, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.

“It was cool,” Smith said of working with Flood. “We had a lot of things in common.”

In creating “In This Light,” Editors had written nearly 20 songs, some of which can be found as bonus tracks on deluxe editions of the album.

“It was a strangely productive time for us,” Smith, 28, said during a recent phone interview from a hotel in Burbank, Calif. “Songs just seemed to come. I have no clue where the songs come from.

“I’m very proud of it,” he added. “I think it flows beautifully.”

Editors have been touring extensively in support of “In This Light,” which has also hit No. 1 in the U.K. The band’s 9:30 Club show is its last in the United States on this leg of the tour, before heading for a number of shows in Europe that will take the band into May. It’s unseen whether the group will come back this way this summer.

“We enjoy touring,” Smith said. “We’re more comfortable. We’re better than we’ve ever been.”

And for longtime fans of Editors, even though “In This Light” is a slight departure, it’s still the same group.

“It’s not a different band,” Smith said. “It’s just something different than we did before.”