The Twilight Sad biography
Date of birth : -
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality : Scottish
Category : Arts and Entertainment
Last modified : 2012-03-30
Credited as : Indie rock band, No One Can Ever Know, Kill It in the Morning
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Distinguished by James Graham's heavy Scottish accent, an accordion, and oodles of noise, the Twilight Sad rose from Glasgow, Scotland, in late 2003 with the lineup of Graham (vocals), Andy MacFarlane (guitar, accordion), Craig Orzel (bass), and Mark Devine (drums). After playing a couple of shows in Glasgow that featured extensive pieces of music using an abundance of instruments, they holed up in the studio to write new material.
In September 2005, with four new songs in hand, they sent a demo to Fat Cat. The label ended up putting them on the bill of a showcase with the Mutts, Charlottefield, the Rank Deluxe, and Frightened Rabbit. The Twilight Sad's debut EP was issued in the U.S. in November 2006; the full-length Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters arrived the following April. The 2008 EP Here, It Never Snowed. Afterwards It Did featured reworkings of several of the album's songs with simpler, more acoustic arrangements, plus a cover of Daniel Johnston's "Some Things Last a Long Time." Killed My Parents and Hit the Road, which featured more covers, including songs by the Smiths and Joy Division among its previously unreleased tracks, also arrived that year.
The Twilight Sad continued to tour as they worked on their second album, playing dates in the U.S. with Mogwai as well as appearing in the U.K. Tracks from the album began appearing online in spring 2009, with "Reflection from the Television" premiering on Pitchfork's website that May; the single "I Became a Prostitute" arrived that August. Forget the Night Ahead, which had a darker, more streamlined approach than the band's earlier work and was co-produced by guitarist McFarlane and the Delgados' Paul Savage, was released in the fall.
Whilst on tour with Errors in October 2010, vocalist James Graham stated that "the next [album] is not going to be anything like the first two. [...] The wall of sound is kinda gone. Andy [MacFarlane]'s demos involve a lot of keyboards, and it's a lot more considered." Additional musician Martin "Dok" Doherty also stated that "the band who make the same record over and over don't have a very long career."The band returned to the studio in January 2011. In April 2011, the band released a free acoustic EP on their official blog. The release featured stripped-back renditions of tracks from both Forget the Night Ahead and The Wrong Car.
The Twilight Sad's third album, No One Can Ever Know, was released on 6 February 2012. Andy MacFarlane describes the album's sound as "sparser... with a colder, slightly militant feel," and the band received some production assistance from producer Andrew Weatherall, who helped in their experimenting with analog synthesizers.
The band released a new song, the album's closing track "Kill It in the Morning", for free on their new website and SoundCloud page on 21 September 2011. The first proper single from the album, "Sick", was made available as a 7" vinyl single and digital download on 14 November 2011. Second single "Another Bed" followed the album's release on 20 February 2012.
