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May 21, 2019 By Charles Steinberg The Twilight Sad

“I know what it’s like when I connect with a band. I don’t forget about them. I’m with them till the end,” says The Twilight Sad‘s James Graham, looking me straight in the eyes. In this instant, I understand what fuels my admiration for the irrepressible vocalist of one of the unsung great bands of the past decade. It’s the sincerity. You hear it in the Scottish singer’s cutting observation of human nature delivered in his native brogue. It also shapes the uncompromising attitude that he and his brothers in instrument have towards their exhilarating output. Essentially, I realized that Graham is capable of the same kind of reverence of a group as I have of his. The genuine love for what he does is the draw.

“I think there’s something about our band where people can see that we’re not just following a trend…we’re doing this because we have to,” says Graham whilst sipping tea to soothe his gilded cords before a Twilight Sad show in Brooklyn. “People connect with that and I think that’s why they stick with us…. I’ve gotten messages saying, ‘Your band’s important to me. I need you to know that.’ You can have your down days but when you see that it’s like, ‘Right, we’re doing this.’ There’s more to this than meets the eye—wait, is that from Transformers?”

There’s always levity poised to drop into conversation with Graham (“Michael Bay is doin’ our next video…and he’s gonna ruin it!”), but quips aside, the integrity feeding the lifeforce of his band is serious and unmistakable. Graham, composer/guitarist Andy MacFarlane, bassist Johnny Docherty, keyboardist Brendan Smith, and new drummer Sebastien Schultz have bonded like Voltron and simply unleash from weighted hearts in a way that freezes you in your tracks. When you tap into their surging discourse, you realize this is survival music, on both ends of the transfer. The legendary Robert Smith sees this, calling the Glasgow crew his favorite, a sentiment confirmed by inviting them to open every show for The Cure during a six-month world tour in 2016 and 2017.

“Knowing someone like that is behind you when there are so many bands out there in the world that Robert can give these opportunities to,” Graham beams with humble pride, “I think that gave us the belief that there’s something to be said here, and there was definitely something to be said with the new music.”

This new music summons all the spirituous tenacity of past efforts to deliver a precise and devastating blow with new album It Won/t Be Like This All the Time. Originally known for cathartic swells of acoustically stirred, beautifully heavy noise rock, natural evolution has led The Twilight Sad to the icier industrial territories of its favorite late-twentieth century bands. The latest proffering of carnal expression harnesses these moods but blasts above the temperature with vigor, something owed to a live performance aesthetic.

“This album’s not lighter in any way, but I do feel like it’s opened up more,” says Graham, “and there’s more of a live band element. It’s bigger…and warmer”

With a fresh outlook that pierces through the gloom, The Twilight Sad aren’t going anywhere, but forward.

“Making this record has been a brilliant experience but it has now just fueled the fire to go even further,” says Graham with optimism. “And this is the closest this band has ever been. If I turn around on stage I can see how much it means to everybody. There’s something about that that gives you more fucking energy.”

[Note: This article originally appeared in Issue 65 of Under the Radar’s print magazine, which is out now. This is its debut online.]

www.thetwilightsad.com

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