THE TWILIGHT SAD - IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE - ROCK ACTION

The wait is over! THE TWILIGHT SAD release their critically-acclaimed new album IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE via Rock Action Records. The band were recently the subject of an in-depth and moving interview in The Guardian and the album has landed to rave reviews across-the-board. Ahead of an extensive UK / EU tour that begins next month, and following the singles “WAITING FOR THE PHONE CALL”, “DESIGNED TO LOSE” and “ATTEMPT A CRASH LANDING - THEME”, to celebrate the album’s release the band share the track “CHEST WOUND TO THE CHEST”.

“It had to contain every element of emotion I was feeling,” says singer/lyricist James Graham of THE TWILIGHT SAD’s deeply resonant sixth album. On their first record in seven years, Scotland’s post-punk outfit return with a story to share: a cogent story of loss and personal crisis, rooted in specific experience yet mounted with a palpable emotional power that feels universal. Set to urgent and guitar-rich arrangements from bandmate Andy MacFarlane, IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE reflects on James’s mother’s illness, her subsequent death and his own mental health struggles, exploring profound human vulnerability with tenderness and tempestuous force.

The result is the most personal yet relatable album to date from a band whose portraits of bruised humanity have forged close ties with their audience. As James says, “In the past I’ve used a lot of metaphors within my lyrics. With this, there’s not as much. The record is heavily influenced by my mental health, grief and loss, and the need to be strong in positions where you’re not feeling it. It’s a very human story, I think – this is just my version of it. I feel that everybody goes through something like this. Everybody loses somebody. Everybody questions life.”

Back in 2016, James and Andy returned from the “pinch yourself” high of a tour with The Cure to find that James’s mother had been diagnosed with early onset frontotemporal dementia. Roughly 80 per cent of the record was written as James wrestled with the contrast between the joys in his life – marriage, parenthood – and the cruelty of his mother’s decline. In November 2023, another tour with The Cure was brought to a necessary halt as his mental health deteriorated. “And then my mum passed away in the January afterwards,” says James.

The record was developed over seven years, with the London-based MacFarlane stockpiling musical ideas during lockdown while exchanging words and sounds with Graham. The Cure’s Robert Smith, by now a longtime close friend of the band, provided invaluable input on the demos and guested on the record, supplying extra guitars on ‘WAITING FOR THE PHONE CALL’, guitars/“Tron keys” on ‘DEAD FLOWERS’ and six-string bass on ‘BACK TO FOURTEEN’. “Then we had to piece together a band,” says Andy, with THE TWILIGHT SAD now centred on him and James after former bandmates were drawn away by life commitments. Sometime Arab Strap player David Jeans and Mogwai live team-member Alex Mackay play drums and bass respectively, while the album was produced by MacFarlane at Willesden’s Battery Studios – a location rich in cherished Cure history, notably – with additional production from Andy Savours (My Bloody Valentine) and mixing by Chris Coady (Slowdive).

The result is a pinnacle for THE TWILIGHT SAD in a career of tremendous integrity and artistry, and a record that honours the band’s ability to turn lived experience into fully felt music. “To know that I’m saying things that connect with other people, that’s such a powerful thing,” says James. “I want to be a relatable person that talks about things that can happen and give an opportunity for people to go, well, you’re not alone. I want people to be able to listen to this record and hear that it comes from a place of raw emotion. The album is an opportunity to share my experience and move forward with my life.”