I caught the video for the poignant reworking of REM’s Everybody Hurts charity single for the first time the other day.

In between shots of Joe McElderry, Gary Barlow and Susan Boyle crooning into their mics, there is a hugely uplifting clip that is now-distinctive footage of the horrific aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

It shows the amazing rescue of an eight-year-old boy and his sister. When they are pulled from the rubble, the crowd cheers and the little survivor raises his arms in the air as if he’d just won a race. Or a fight, which, I suppose, he did.

A couple of days later, I was speaking to Tom Smith, lead singer of Editors, about his band’s return to Bradford, and he made a remark that made me remember that footage.

“It’s not all dark,” he said of his band’s latest album, In This Light And In This Evening. “There’s hope and love in there, but it shines ten times brighter through the darkness.”

These are dark times, in whichever direction you look, but the good, the positive and the beautiful are outstanding.

The album’s title track is a clear case in point. Over brooding synths, Tom sings of a darkening London street in the pouring rain, and picks out the illuminating beauty from the grey.

“We are comfortable with this darkness,” says Tom. “We enjoy it. It’s not something we set out to do. It’s not contrived, it was just a natural progression. We’ve been called ‘gloomy’ before, and I’d like to think that couldn’t be further from the truth. We want to uplift people, to excite people.”

Editors were positively uplifting when they performed a rousing headlining set to 15,000 people at last summer’s Bingley Music Live, where they previewed their new, more electronic, sound.

“That is a great little festival,” says Tom. “The guys from the Twang told us about it after they played there the year before. We’d not heard of it before, but it’s an amazing set-up. It’s a really special secret you have there – just don’t let it get too big.”

Future singles Papillon and You Don’t Know Love were played at Bingley, but now their industrial sound will be more familiar to fans when they come to St George’s Hall on Monday night. Tom said prior to the release of In This Light that the album would alienate some Editors fans and split opinion. Was he right?

“We’ve had some of the best reviews we’ve ever had,” he says with modesty. “We’ve also had some negative ones. We’ve heard from fans that it’s our best record, and some aren’t so keen, but that’s just the way things are. We know we can’t please everyone, and that’s fine.”

“All our albums have been a progression and I think fans like the challenge. We like the challenge.”

And the new dynamics within the band have certainly been challenging. Since their second album, An End Has A Start, Editors – Tom, guitarist Chris Urbanowicz, bassist Russell Leetch and drummer Ed Lay – have begun new lives outside of the band.

Chris and Russell now live in New York. “They are experiencing life and seeing new things, which is great,” says Tom, who has become a family man – he and partner Edith Bowman are proud parents of Rudy.

“It’s hard being away on tour, but he does come on the road with us from time to time.

“I spend all the time I can with him when I’m not away. I can work at home and see him every day. Some dads working nine-to-five don’t see their kids that much. It’s just a bit different for me.”

Editors have enjoyed a great start to 2010, having already spent weeks touring in America and Australia. And there’s no sign of things slowing down either, with their imminent tour of the UK and a massive European tour before they hit the festival season, which includes an appearance at V Festival in August.

“It’s what we love. We like what we do, writing and recording, but to get out there and connect with people is something else,” Tom enthuses.

“The intensity of the songs heightens when we play live, and we give it everything we’ve got. Otherwise there’d be no point.”

Rehearsals for the new tour took place last week, after a brief but well-earned break to recover from the jetlag.

“The new show is a bit different. We’ve got this very industrial-themed production being worked out. It’s not quite Rammstein, but it definitely has an industrial feel,” says Tom of what fans can expect from tonight's show.

Editors are on at St George’s Hall tonight, supported by Cold Cave. For tickets, call (01274) 432000.