In case you were wondering what kind of music Robert Smith of The Cure appreciates, meet The Twilight Sad, a favorite group that he’s been known to hang around backstage to more thoroughly enjoy the music and performances of. “I asked The Twilight Sad to join us on The Cure Tour 2016 because they are the best band playing the best songs – consistently brilliant, emotional, intense, inspiring, entertaining,” praised Smith.
“You don’t wanna be around me anymore,
I don’t wanna be around me anymore,
You can’t stand to be around me anymore.”
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) that self-describes their sound as “folk with layers of noise,” while music critics have described the band as “perennially unhappy.” Although the band’s recorded sound is layered with many melodies, their live sound is a more intense experience with a more visceral wall of noise, best evidenced by their recent release Live 2022 EP, recorded during their 2022 European tour with The Cure, showcasing a more coldly skeletal sound amidst gloriously discordant screeching guitars.
“You’re too close for comfort,
You’re too close to comfort me.”
According to Andy MacFarlane, the first single “I/m Not Here [missing face]” was born out of the same ‘chord shapes’ as Erik Satie’s “Ogives”. Lyrically, James Graham described the song as being about “my ongoing battle with not liking myself, trying to be a good person but constantly feeling like I’m failing myself and everyone I care about […] I’m not hiding behind a lot of metaphors anymore. Before it was ‘the kids are on fire in the bedroom’. This time it’s straight up ‘this is how shite I’m feeling’. It’s just honest.”
“You don’t wanna be around me anymore,
I don’t wanna be around me anymore,
I can’t stand to be around me anymore.”
In regards to Smith, James effuses, “If you’d told us five years ago that we’d become friends with Robert Smith to just go up to him and slag him and talk shite to him – it’s mind-blowing. He’s just a nice guy who wants people to do the best that he can.”
When asked about Smith’s funny tendency to send emails in all-caps, Andy chimes in, “He does, aye. It’s really weird for such a softly-spoken guy to send you an email going ‘FUCK OFF ANDY’. I’ve got hundreds of those emails.” Further, lamenting, “When an email comes through not in caps lock, that’s when you should be worried. ‘I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed’. I’ve had a few of those as well.”
“I’m not here,
And it’s all too,
Far too clear.”
~
The Twilight Sad’s
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LABEL: ROCK ACTION RECORDS
Questions/answers quoted from NME.com‘s excellent interview.
Remaining facts lifted from Wikipedia.org.
Awesome and underrated band for sure. Their studio albums are all brilliant, but live is just something different.
Definitely. The sound truly is more visceral and cutting. I especially love the Live 2022 EP. Thank you for sharing. 💀
I think the most poignant lines are: “It doesn’t stop when the tears run dry, I’ll take everything inside.” That’s true for a lot of people; though not showing emotion on the outside, it’s still inside…building.
The song is a hell of a ride, delivered with with despairing vocals and a dynamic beat. I enjoyed. 🖤
I/m glad you enjoyed it, jai. 😊 I think those scars on the inside are the ones that deliver many the fatal damage that finally takes them out. That ‘build up’ shouldn/t be underestimated. I like to think that every time we laugh we add at least a day to our lifespan. 🖤