The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad
The Twilight Sad performing live at Hyde Park, London in 2018. Left to right: MacFarlane, Graham, Schultz, Smith and Docherty.
The Twilight Sad performing live at Hyde Park, London in 2018.
Left to right: MacFarlane, Graham, Schultz, Smith and Docherty.
Background information
OriginKilsyth, Scotland
Genres
Years active2003–present
LabelsFat Cat Records (2005–2018)
Rock Action Records (2018–present)
MembersJames Graham
Andy MacFarlane
Johnny Docherty
Brendan Smith
Grant Hutchison
Past membersMark Devine
Martin Doherty
Craig Orzel
Sebastian Schultz
WebsiteThe Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad are a Scottish post-punk/indie rock band, comprising James Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar), Johnny Docherty (bass), Brendan Smith (keyboards) and Grant Hutchison (drums). They have released five studio albums, as well as several EPs, live recordings and singles. Their 2007 debut album, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, drew widespread acclaim from critics,[8] who noted Graham's thick Scottish accent and MacFarlane's dense sonic walls of shoegazing guitar and wheezing accordion. The Twilight Sad's notoriously loud live performances have been described as "completely ear-splitting",[9] and the band toured for the album across Europe and the United States throughout 2007 and 2008. Sessions inspired by stripped-down and reworked live performances yielded the 2008 mini-album, Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did.

The band's second album, Forget the Night Ahead, marked a shift in their direction; lyrically more personal and musically darker and more streamlined,[10] it was released in 2009 to acclaim.[11] Recording sessions for the album also produced the mid-2010 release The Wrong Car, which followed the departure of founding bassist Craig Orzel in February 2010. The Twilight Sad's third album, No One Can Ever Know, was released in February 2012 and marked another stylistic shift, with the band citing industrial music and krautrock influences for a darker, sparser sound.[12] The band's fourth album, entitled Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave, was released in late October 2014 to universally positive reviews,[13] and was the band's last album with founding member Mark Devine, who left amicably in January 2018. The Twilight Sad's fifth studio album, It Won/t Be Like This All the Time, was released in January 2019 to further critical acclaim.

The band has described their sound as "folk with layers of noise",[14] and music critics have described the band as "perennially unhappy"[15] and "a band that inject some real emotion and dynamic excitement into a comparatively standard template."[16]

  1. ^ Simpson, Dave (18 January 2019). "The Twilight Sad: It Won't Be Like This All the Time review – epic, impassioned post-punk". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  2. ^ Carr, Paul (15 January 2019). "It Won/t Be Like This All the Time' Is the Album the Twilight Sad Was Destined to Make". PopMatters. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  3. ^ Gourlay, Dom. "DiS meets The Twilight Sad". Drowned In Sound. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. ^ Gibson, Harriet (22 May 2015). "Listen to the Cure's Robert Smith cover the Twilight Sad". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  5. ^ Howieson, Craig. "The Twilight Sad find redemption in the darkness of new LP". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. ^ TRendell, Andrew (10 January 2019). "The Twilight Sad – 'It Won/t Be Like This All The Time' review". NME. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  7. ^ Greig, Gordon (December 2016). "The Cure, The Twilight Sad at Manchester Arena, 29/11/2016, Scottish Gothic Rock". soundfromnowhere. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters by The Twilight Sad". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  9. ^ Cohen, Ian (8 September 2008). "Pitchfork: Album Reviews: The Twilight Sad: Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  10. ^ Phares, Heather. "Forget the Night Ahead – The Twilight Sad". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  11. ^ "Forget the Night Ahead by The Twilight Sad". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  12. ^ "The Twilight Sad Set To Release New Album 'No One Can Ever Know' On 7 February, Playing SXSW". 14 November 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  13. ^ "Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave by The Twilight Sad". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  14. ^ Briercliffe, Simon (12 May 2007). "The Twilight Sad: Live at The Borderline, London (10/05/2007)". Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  15. ^ Breihan, Tom (26 July 2010). "Pitchfork: New Twilight Sad: The Wrong Car". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  16. ^ Briercliffe, Simon (24 April 2007). "The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns And Fifteen Winters". No Ripcord. Retrieved 8 December 2010.