When being introduced to The Twilight Sad, you’d be forgiven for building a soundscape in your head of what they’re like from the surface-level name alone. And it’s likely that assumption is correct. When you’re grasping for an enveloping void, you’re going to get it from them more than most––as on their latest effort in seven years It’s The Long Goodbye, a record fuelled by personal tragedy, and the tumult and catharsis that comes with it.
The now-duo, for the past two decades, do lean on the gloomier side that’s distinct from a lot of their contemporary Scottish compatriots. Mogwai pull harder in the ‘post’ side of post-rock with bizarre humour laced everywhere, as Biffy also used to do on their early-day weirdness. They’re not quite the indie-folk of Belle And Sebastian either, despite dipping into similar instrumentation when they strip back the distorted curtains and add accordions. After all, they’re not a “lads” band or a “scenestry” band in their own words, thank god.
But arguably they do a lot of their brethren’s styles proud: one look at the hilarious Sonic Youth-borrowing on compilation Killed My Parents And Hit the Road, which clashes with the acknowledgement their music causes audiences “to come to the shows to have a cry and a proper emotional breakdown!”. There’s light and dark in this world after all, and that’s a sentiment that truly underlines James Graham and Andy MacFarlane’s work here: the joys of parenthood and being The Cure’s go-to opening band, yet also the saddening death of a loved one. There’s something of a gothic beauty to their tales and unfurling distorted swells, unsurprising given the kudos granted to them by indie-goth priest Robert Smith himself, who contributes to the background writing and his own characteristic inflections in three of these tracks.
Interestingly, it’s where Smith is absent when his post-punk lineage is felt most; the shiny leads and locked-in programmed drums of INHOSPITABLE/HOSPITAL, or the Simon Gallup bassline of DESIGNED TO LOSE, down to Graham’s agonisingly splendid vocal rises to its conclusion. His lamenting vocals manage to fold underneath the blanket of, well, everything going on in brilliant single WAITING FOR THE PHONE CALL, while never being undone by the huge momentum from an almost rave-ready pulse and a bass lick darting from one side of the noise-wall to the other. The cracking vocals of “why does it feel like this, why does it feel like nothing is real?” are tear-jerkingly effective on the near-balladic THE CEILING UNDERGROUND, too, marking again a wonderful foil to the bombastic DEAD FLOWERS.
The centrepiece track has it all: there’s a return to the dirge, and a song seemingly with its own gravitational pull. Smith’s contributed guitar shimmers precede ripping tremolo bursts from MacFarlane, and Graham’s quasi-lyrical “it’s water off a duck’s back, give me my fucks back!” would sound ridiculous out of anyone without his Caledonian croon. It’s half-serious enough to be menacing, but with a clear grin that life’s full of remorse, laughter, and, sometimes, inconveniences at the hands of dickheads.
In trademark fashion, this much-anticipated Sad record is an evolved fixture in their dense discography: there’s much to unpack, and feelings to expel yourself, after delving into the duo’s experiences and building soundscapes. Like the band themselves, we keep on moving forward in this dark, noisy trip everyone has to endure––bolstered by such a fitting soundtrack.
For fans of: Interpol, DIIV, bdrmm
‘It’s The Long Goodbye’ by The Twilight Sad is released on 27th March on Rock Action Records.
Words by Elliot Burr
