Editors frontman Tom Smith’s debut album finds hope and positivity, even in the most troubled of times. Recorded with producer Iain Archer, the album celebrates the strengths we can find – even when things look doomed.

Sparse Nick Drake-style acoustic strums open the record as Tom sings about things happening ‘in the wake of December, at the time of your life’ and offers reassurance to a loved one that ‘You are not alone when you are lonely’. This is followed by ‘How Many Times’, a song that opens with a memories of a walk round Oxford Circus before throwing in elements of self-doubt (‘How many times have I got it wrong?’) before finishing with a warming Frightened Rabbit-esque message of ‘We’ve got each other and we just get by’.

‘Endings Are Breaking My Heart’ provides a nostalgic look back at childhood, complete with ‘grazed knees’, before pondering bigger questions: ‘All the living things move on, so move on’. ‘Life is for Living’ has a powerfully poignant message being delivered against a goth-tinged backdrop: ‘Life is for living, live it ’til it’s gone’, while ‘Lights of New York’ reminisces about the magic of the ‘city that never sleeps’ (‘cold night air meets steel from the trains’ and ‘the lights of New York City drowning in the Hudson where they belong’ being just two examples that transport you there) and fleeting time spent with someone special.

‘Souls’ finds solace in companionship with someone who feels equally adrift: ‘There’s a lost soul in me, there’s a lost soul in you’; ‘When I saw salvation, you saw it, too’. The penultimate ‘Leave’ has a Springsteen or Tom Petty tone in its full band sound – complete with rasping vocals repeating the words ‘I need you to stay here’. The album closes in genteel piano-led fashion on Saturday, a pining love song with the powerful admission: ‘I only wanna hear you talk to me’.

There are plenty of bright moments on Tom Smith’s debut album.