The Twilight Sad: Forget The Night Ahead

The Twilight Sad return with their second full-length album, reaffirming why their one of the most exciting bands to come out of Scotland in recent times, writes Ryan Butcher.


Someone once said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. I first mistook this phrase as an outright attack at the futility of music journalism, but after listening to Forget the Night Ahead, it suddenly became clear. Sometimes a record comes along which is so powerful, it shows you how ridiculous the task of trying to describe music really is.

Is that not the mark of a truly great record? Or perhaps that of an ineloquent writer? Nevertheless, I shall persevere, regardless of my artistic integrity, and attempt to illustrate the true majesty of this album.

The Twilight Sad’s signature duality between melody and noise has progressed in leaps and bounds from their debut Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters. Unbalanced guitar lays dormant beneath static feedback before screeching forth with a sonic euphoria, boasting a confidence usually reserved for filling arenas. With layered aural effects that would make Kevin Shields or Warren Ellis blush, the capability of this little band from Kilsyth, Scotland, is frankly astounding.

Vocalist James Graham maintains his Scottish drawl which has accented The Twilight Sad since their beginning, swinging back and forth pendulum-like between a tender annunciation of hopelessness and fear to an unabashed wail of anger and regret.

Exploring themes such as denial, emptiness, exploitation and loss can be tricky. A misplaced metaphor can result in embarrassing cliché displacing the tone of the whole record. However, The Twilight Sad orchestrate the content of their lyrics with an undeniable poetic honesty akin to that of Leonard Cohen, or even fellow Scot Roddy Woomble at his most submissive.

All in all, Forget the Night Ahead comes across as a much more complete and, dare I say, mature record than its predecessor. Bracing, engaging, yet an altogether sombre affair. Half understated, half unhinged, this album is unlikely to be pushed onto the A-list of Radio 1. Instead, it confirms The Twilight Sad as one of the most exhilarating acts to come north of the border since Idlewild first threw a flight of stairs down a flight of stairs.

MARKS: 9/10