Birmingham, England-based indie rock band Editors made their mark in 2005 as potential rivals to the art-rock scene's critical favourites, the UK's Franz Ferdinand and US band Interpol. Tom Smith (b. 1981, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England; vocals/guitar), Chris Urbanowicz (b. Christopher Urbanowicz, 22 June 1981, Aslockton, Nottinghamshire, England; guitar), Russell Leetch (b. 1982, Solihull, England; bass) and Geraint Owen (drums) first met while studying Music Technology at Staffordshire University. They began playing around the local area as the Pride and recorded a demo CD, releasing the music online through the Onemusic Unsigned website.
An enforced personnel change saw drummer Owen replaced by Ed Lay (b. Edward Lay, Ipswich, Suffolk, England), with the new line-up changing their name to Snowfield. The quartet continued to balance their studies with gigging around the Midlands circuit, before launching a full-time music career at the end of 2003. Within a year they had signed a recording contract with Kitchenware Records and begun work on recording their debut album. After a swift name change to Editors the quartet released their debut single, "Bullets", at the start of 2005. Further singles, "Munich" and "Blood", reached the upper regions of the UK charts, paving the way for the release of The Back Room in the summer. Despite it's derivative post-punk feel (Joy Division and Echo And The Bunnymen were obvious influences) the album featured enough melodic punch to help Editors stand out from their peers. "Munich" earned extensive radio play in the UK and America, helping propel sales of The Back Room close to the half million mark by the start of 2006. The album was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize the same year.
The follow-up was always going to struggle to match the impact of the band's debut, and, despite some excellent moments ("The Racing Rats", "Escape The Nest" and "When Anger Shows"), An End Has A Start (2007) was ultimately less satisfying.
