FatCat Records
Out Now
More information on The Twilight Sad’s Official Website
The Twilight Sad have been living up to their name for almost a decade now, making them experts in the field of Scottish melancholy. Alongside Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks, the band are pioneers in looking miserable and singing miserable songs in indecipherable accents and this has by no means been undermined by their latest release: the therefore aptly-titled Nobody Wants To Be Here and Nobody Wants To Leave. From a quick glance at the tracklist (with songs as cheerfully titled as ‘Drown So I Can Watch’) it’s clear to see that the boys are sticking to what they know; and fair enough. The album follows their infallible formula: it’s an elegy of resounding drums and clashing guitars and lyrics heavy with bitterness and poetry.
This time, the drums and guitars are accompanied by the hums and whirs of synths, as demonstrated by the wobbly of sinister synths on the opening track ‘Girl In The Corner.’ Here the chugging of bass and the electric whines set the tone for an album characterised by great waves of sound and climbing vocals. The opening strums of ‘I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want,’ jerking in discord across steady pounding of drums, inject Graham’s lyrics with an unnerving menace . In the chorus, with notable detachment, he sings his pained mantra of “So cold I know where you go/Stop telling me know.” One of the most thrilling and memorable aspect of any Twilight Sad record is his articulation, the way in which his lyrics linger in your head like a stone in your shoe for days after.
Admittedly, the album does feel a little soulless in places. Unlike the thrashing and shouting of Fourteen Autumns and Fourteen Winters, there are moments of the record which lack the unshackled emotion of their earlier releases. Whatever Graham’s holding back, it’s certainly noticeable in the occasional monotony of the steady thrumming of guitars and drums.
But The Twilight Sad are just one of those bands. A little rough around the edges and pounding with a time-old longing which you can feel in your stomach. There is no doubt that they’ll be here to stay for another decade to come.
