This idea made me think of the The Twilight Sad. The band have been labelled along a spectrum, from grumpy, dour Scots to a more extreme, probable-trauma-as-a-child sort of category. While it’s understandable that people will take what an artist presents as some clue as the nature of its creator (they have nothing else to go on, after all), to see albums or careers written off as miserable, aloof or frigid based on the artwork and some cherry-picked lyrics is not only unfair, but also missing the point quite spectacularly (FYI Lead James Graham has nice supportive parents). 

Nobody Wants to Be Here… is the The Twilight Sad’s fourth album. Their début, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, was a critically acclaimed masterpiece, but the others, all too often lumped in with the more saleable Frightened Rabbit and We Were Promised Jetpacks, were overlooked for the most part. Graham told The Skinny that the new record is an attempt “not to prove people wrong, but to prove people right,” and it is immensely pleasing to see that this does not mean conforming to a trend but working doubly hard at what TTS are best at.

‘There’s a Girl in the Corner’ opens on a familiarly unsettling vibe, the refrain “you’re not coming back, you’re not coming back from this” hinting at something awful. This indirect method of delivery continues across the album. To choose a few examples, ‘Last January’ is bitter and unrequited and creepy in a desperate way…

“I see you at night,
and I stare at you
You don’t care for me

Without the light,
I still glare at you,
look away from me”

…and ‘I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want’ mixes specific imagery with a dream-like fogginess…

“She said “Pray over there”
She sat and prayed over there
How dare you decide what’s right?
No, you won’t”

This continues throughout the album, until the final track, ‘Sometimes I Wished I Could Fall Asleep,’ a bleak love letter stripped back to the bare bones, just stark piano and Graham’s lyrics. The layers of metaphor are peeled back to produce what is the explicit song on the record, a simple, straight conclusion to what proves a complex piece of work.

The effect the indistinct writing is that of trying to view a disaster unfold through a keyhole, only opening the door once it is too late and the room is empty save for the hum in the air of residual violence or grief. Only Graham seems unable to fully accept what has happened out of sight and instead treads the thinnest, most ridiculous sliver of hope rather than lay down and unravel.

The moral of the album, looping right back around to Berninger and Ellis, is that dark music does not always make for miserable creators or listeners. I’m reminded of the line in Withered Hand’s ‘Religious Songs’, “how does he expect to be happy when he listens to death metal bands?” The Twilight Sad are excellent for the very reason that they deal with pain and darkness in an affirming way, opening up difficult, alienating emotions to show that we are all difficult, emotional aliens. And that we are these things together.

You can buy the album now from FatCat Records, The Twilight Sad’s website or their Bandcamp page.

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Edinburgh’s Shooting Stansfield look to be the next act to join this list. Their new EP, We Know Not What We Do, features six melodic tracks driven by guitars and with focused songwriting. Without wanting to pigeonhole them, they come across as a blend of all the bands mentioned above. The opener, ‘Blue Turns Black’, could be straight off a Frightened Rabbit record, whereas the single ‘Greater or Lesser’ (which is available as a free download in exchange for your email address) is much more of a folk song, with the finger-clicking, guitar strumming sound associated with Admiral Fallow.

This is far from a bad thing. Each of the six tracks tries out a slightly different style and tempo, providing some interesting changes of pace and keeping things interesting. Maybe the band are still figuring out exactly which direction they are going to take, but that does not mean that these songs do not stand up to the test now.

My favourite track, ‘There Are No Greater Truths’, is a slow burning song with some of the strongest writing on the EP. The song gradually becomes more immediate, with drums reminiscent of The National supporting the increasingly earnest lyrics. You get the impression that the narrator is getting more confidence in his message as the song progresses, with a quiet and unsure start developing into a louder conclusion where the lyrics and delivery are impassioned.

One of the lines stuck in my mind, an idea which I think runs through a lot of writing on the human condition (for lack of a more every day description).

’If hollow is not a normal thing then I need filling in // If emptiness comes from within, then we are struggling.’

Upon further listens you discover that there are clever lines like this throughout the record. Meaningful, purposeful words behind the catchy tunes. I think this EP will reward repeated listens as these nuances come to the fore, and I strongly suggest you keep an eye on this band for the future.

The EP is available via the Shooting Stansfield Bandcamp page.

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I have heard this song before, I think it was played in a session a while back, and am glad that the recorded version remains more or less true to the version I was familiar with. It is a slight change from the usual Withered Hand sound but a worthwhile one. Should Withered hand manage to get together a full band and tour songs like this I see no reason why they wouldn’t achieve a greater level of recognition. It would be fully deserved.

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Also check out his previous seasonal effort ’It’s a Wonderful Lie’. It’s a free download.

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