THE TWILIGHT SAD - NO ONE CAN EVER KNOW
Fat Cat

If the name The Twilight Sad brings to mind certain connotations, then the music on this album won’t surprise, the conjured up images of melancholia, nocturnal yearnings and bleakness being matched by the glacial synth rock on offer.

Over nine tracks, the band channel the presence of Eighties post-industrial, pre-goth miserablists like Joy Division or Cabaret Voltaire, whether in moody pieces like album opener Alphabet and Nil, or in relatively up-tempo (musically at least) tracks like Dead City or Don’t Move. The a backdrop of pounding bass, twisted guitar and cold electronica, James Graham’s vocals – strongly accented, sometimes soaring, sometimes little more than a mumble – offer tales of pain and heartbreak that might be a bit much for those of you looking for feel-good music, but which is welcome stuff for those of us who want music to touch the darkest corners of the soul.

Single choice Another Bed surprisingly soars into synth-pop territory, without compromising the darkness of the whole record, while closer Kill It In The Morning is the sort of creepingly insistent, intense track that you image laying waste to audiences when played live.

In the end, this is a collection of dramatic – even melodramatic – songs that have a cinematic scope but which are equally intimate and personal tales of something very bad indeed. Very impressive.

DAVID FLINT

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