It's generally a bad idea to go into a fresh album with expectations, but when a band has already made an impression on you with their earlier work it's practically impossible to take their new stuff at face value. Still, it's as absurd to demand that each new record builds on those before it as it is to demand that each new book an author writes be a sequel to the last and not a stand-alone piece. So, when I first listened through In This Light And On This Evening, the most recent album by Editors, it took me a little while to understand just what I was hearing. Halfway through I was disappointed, but by the end I was swayed.

I've been a fan of Editors since they finally settled on a name and released their first album The Back Room in 2005. In those days they were a high-energy rock outfit punctuated by Tom Smith's alternately sullen and insistent vocals. Depending on who you talk to, their 2007 follow-up An End Has A Start is either a sophomore slump or an affecting, if lopsided, excursion. Just the same, those who would dismiss In This Light probably didn't like An End anyway, hoping that the band would return to the sound they captured five years ago. Well, Editors certainly diverge from the bombastic rock of "Bullets" on this album, but I generally think it's for the better.

On the surface, In This Light is a maudlin throwback to the synthesizer-drenched club music of the 1980's, but I'd like to argue that it's more than that. Editors suffer criticism this time around just like every other rock band that ever allowed guitars to take a back seat to keyboards. It's the 21st century version of Dylan plugging in. While Editors were praised back in 2005 for incorporating influences like U2 into their sound, today they're taking heat for doing the same with Depeche Mode and Siouxsie and the Banshees. So, sure, as a rock record In This Light comes up short, but it's nothing short of a Goth revelation.

For the most part, Goth has never really been incorporated into the mainstream pop vocabulary, a shame considering its theatrical excellence and unparalleled ability to intellectualize what is essentially dance music. Taken as a years-in-the-making embrace of Goth sensibilities into what isn't overtly Goth itself, songs like "Treasure" and In This Light's title track make a lot more sense and are significantly more enjoyable.

In This Light And On This Evening definitely has its low points and they exist primarily in the first half. "Bricks and Mortar" actually does sound like early Editors, except it lacks the freshness and confidence that made so much of The Back Room enjoyable. On occasion and on no particular track, Tom Smith's vocals can be a bit distracting and his blunt, conversational lyrics don't have the earnest impact that they did on An End Has A Start. He fares better on weird outings like "Eat Raw Meat=Blood Drool" (a song title so bad it's good).

So, no, don't buy In This Light And On This Evening if you want a party record, or a rock record, or even a post-punk revival record. But if you're in the mood for a well-studied experiment in evolved Goth, dive right in.