Editors - Editors Struggled To Record Before Guitarist's Departure

Urbanowicz quit the group in April (12), and although a statement from the rockers at the time insisted the split was "entirely amicable", frontman Tom Smith admits the band was in a dark place before he left.

He tells Britain's Daily Star, "It's been a long, hard couple of years and it got pretty dark because whenever we tried creating new songs it wasn't good enough.

"Chris's heart wasn't in it any more. For a year, we'd leave rehearsals feeling very negative and uninspired. Lots of things went wrong and what happened is still extremely sad. That's all I can say."

But after finding a replacement for the guitarist, Smith insists the group is ready to move forward and release new material.

He adds, "Editors had become a very negative place, so it's nice to have some positivity. It feels like we're a band who's had major surgery and replaced some organs, but we're ready to function again at last."