The noughties were a wild time – beautiful girls danced to sad guitar music, preferably Interpol or its British equivalent, Editors. They’re still around, they only released their seventh album in 2022 and have turned to more and more electronic elements.
But singer and frontman Tom Smith was drawn back to acoustic music, and he now lives out this side on his solo album THERE IS NOTHING IN THE DARK WHICH ISN’T THERE IN THE LIGHT – a title that is also good to recite to children in the evening if they are afraid of monsters under the bed. And if in doubt, sit in the living room afterwards with the album and a glass of wine.
The kitsch that Editors always came dangerously close to comes up again and again here, especially on “The Lights Of New York City”, one of the emotional highlights of the album. But then a ghostly trumpet sounds from the distance. The ghosts of his life always play a role on Smith’s album: past pain, lost friendships, old experiences. If all midlife crises sounded like THERE IS NOTHING IN THE DARK… the world would be a better place.
This review appears in Musikexpress 1/2026.