Maybe it was Tom Smith's deep vocals that he found reminscent of Ian Curtis, or the post-punk musical settings that adorned the Birmingham four-piece's first two albums, The Back Room and An End has a Start. The comparison stuck.

The sweeping electronica on their new album, In This Light and On This Evening, then comes as something of surprise. However, according to Editors' bass player Russell Leech, the new direction is something they had been thinking about for some time.

"We've had that influence on previous records, especially Camera and Distance on The Back Room. We just wanted to do something totally different to the last record," he explains.

"When we started working with Flood (Mark Ellis, longtime producer of electronic bands such as Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and Erasure) it seemed the obvious thing to do. It was a lot of fun. Everything on the synths has been a 'take' rather than being sequenced – that was quite important."

It seems band members' varied tastes fed into the record. "We don't really collectively listen to the same things," says Russell. "Myself and Tom like Neu! and there's also Talking Heads and LCD Soundsystem. We did listen to Depeche Mode's Violator quite a bit."

Tom has talked about In This Light... being heavily influenced by London, where he now lives with his partner, Radio 1 DJ Edith Bowman, and their son 15-month-old Rudy. Russell, though, says there was no overarching concept to the album.

"I think it's a bit looser than that. It's not a concept record as such, it's more observational of London today, I guess. I think there are certain stories and characters that he has tried to put across that have definitely existed in London, but we've all lived in big cities for years, that influence has rubbed off on all of us."

Despite the success of the band's previous albums – The Back Room sold 500,000 copies, its follow-up was a UK No.1 – Russell says the band didn't feel under any pressure to produce another big hit.

"You can't really think about No.1s and No.2s," he says. "We just tried to make the best album possible.

"We got away with it last time; we only really had 12 songs for the album and 10 went on it. This time it was more important for us to have a great collection of songs and to pick the best."

Though the band members now live in diverse locations – Tom in London, drummer Ed Lay in Birmingham, Russell and guitarist Chris Urbanowicz in New York – songwriting remains collaborative.

"We don't tend to be in the same room," points out Russell, "but it works."

"Tom writes the chord progressions and some of the lyrics then we start putting on little things and try to break songs up as much as possible. We try to take it to weirder territories.

"That's why our songs always work acoustically," he reflects. "If you strip them back there's always a single element that works."

The fact that the band is now scattered is also beneficial to their relationships, Russell feels. "It's most probably improved them from last time," he laughs. "We've got a lot more to talk about than when we've been on tour for eight or nine months when it's, like, 'I've seen you every day for the last year'.

"It's refreshing having things to talk about. If we were still in the same house in Birmingham that we were in five years ago we might be getting a bit fed up of each other."

He's less certain whether In This Light... will change the band's sombre reputation. "It's still dark pop music, this record, but I think it will change some people's perceptions of us as a band. We are not limited to doing certain things. It's a good thing to do. If some fans like the last record and not this then so be it."

One thing the band have changed is their schedules. Now all in their late 20s, they try to strike a balance between their home and work lives. "We all have our girlfriends and partners and families that we try to see," says Russell. "We're trying not to miss out on anything. It's always going to be tricky but it always works. You just have to make these things works. If it became a problem then we would have to stop touring."

Fortunately that's not about to happen any time soon. Editors start a UK tour this month that includes a trip to the O2 Academy Leeds on Saturday, October 17.

Russell says fans can look forward to a mixed set. "The record will only just have come out. We don't want to totally bombard people with it. There's only nine songs on it anyway and we will play a lot of that material. We want to; we have played old songs before. But all the fans' favourites will be in there. I don't think we could do a gig and not play Munich (the band's No.2 hit)."

After that Editors are off to Europe. "Then we will break up on December 15... that sounds like school!" he laughs. "Then we are off to New Zealand. That will be exciting, I can't wait to go there. We're playing a gig on New Year's Eve in Tazmania and then we're going to take a week's vacation."

It seems the band still have an appetite for life on the road. "At the moment we still do," says Russell. "That's part of why we are in a band. If we stop enjoying it we will just put out records rather than touring.

"But we might have to wait until people start paying for downloads!"

Editors' gig at Leeds Academy has sold out. In This Light and On This Evening is out now.

Click here for more