NB, all views are my own. What is This Thing Called Love was Tom attempting to write the kind of song required by a winner of the television series The X Factor. An interesting experiment that, unfortunately, saw the song rejected and I don't think that's a bad thing. Here's why. That show appears to follow a Discover-Elevate-Adore-Discard approach, an assembly line to stardom with a meat grinder waiting at the end that participants seem willing walk into in the name of realising their dreams. It's transience is equalled only by its apparent ruthlessness. So the questions becomes, what would being selected as a successful composer for the show really mean? Editors' success resulted from almost 2 decades of work and dedication, the antithesis of The X-Factor. They're two different worlds. Rejection from a group with such opposing methods is no insult, it may even be a compliment. Ironically, Editors were musical guests on The X factor Italy in 2013, where they played A Ton of Love.