The Twilight Sad
Forget the Night Ahead
By Cam Lindsay

Far too often, bands try too hard on that "difficult" second album. With the pressure on, it's usually the time to try something new to avoid repetition, but Glasgow downers the Twilight Sad have stuck with it. Forget the Night Ahead doesn't mess with the good thing they established on 2007's brilliant breakthrough debut, Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters. Intact is the winning formula of James Graham's phlegm-y brogue, crooning words of introspective misery, and producer/guitarist Andy McFarlane flooding the surroundings with waves of guitar noise to heighten the gravitas. But it's also those two facets that see the only significant changes. Graham's lyrics have grown more despondent, referencing Godard in the self-punishing "I Became A Prostitute" and revisiting trauma in the lamenting "Floorboards Under The Bed." McFarlane, on the other hand, has swollen the band's sound. Having toured with ear-splitting neighbours Mogwai, they've filled in a much of the space Fourteen allowed for piano by boosting the levels with strident guitars that on the instrumental "Scissors" and the triumphant "The Birthday Present" bleed the distortion and reverb pedals dry. With these two forces converging so intensely, the Twilight Sad have proved that unlike most bands, they didn't need to tinker much to get another classic out of them.

How did your lyrics change this time around?
Graham: Although the lyrics on the first record were very personal they were observations on other people's behaviour and how they affected me and the people around me. The lyrics on Forget the Night Ahead are mainly about things that I have done and situations I have found myself in over the past two years, and being none too proud of myself. They revolve around losing people and things that I wish hadn't happened and things I wish had.

Is there a theme to the album?
Me being a bit of a dick! The title explains it all. There were some nights I wanted to forget, and there were some nights that I can't remember.

I heard you used some fire extinguishers as instruments on this album.
It was Mark [Devine], our drummer, who used the fire extinguishers as percussion on some of the tracks. He would just hit them and it sounded good. I am sure if you listen carefully you will here them. It probably wasn't that safe to be smacking a fire extinguisher in such an enclosed space but rather him than me. Plus, it sounded pretty cool. (Fat Cat)
Annotations of an Autopsy - The Reign of Darkness
Blessure Grave - Judged By Twelve, Carried By Six
Magnetic Fields / Laura Barrett
Hillside Inside Featuring Owen Pallett, Ani Di Franco, Basia Bulat, Bahamas, Hawksley Workman
The Golden Filter / LA Riots / Junior Boys
Hollerado - Record in a Bag
Orphaned Land - The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR
Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise
Watson Twins - Talking To You, Talking To Me
Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen / Love Bites / A Different Kind Of Tension
Sade - Soldier Of Love
Yukon Blonde - Yukon Blonde
Steve Kaldestad - Blow-Up
Galactic - Ya-Ka-May
Gil Scott-Heron - I’m New Here
Dawn Of Demise - A Force Unstoppable
Janine Stoll - Melancholia
Stygian - Fury Rising
Shining - VI — Klagopsalmer
The Kandidate - Until We Are Outnumbered
Troll - Neo-Satanic Supremacy
Meshuggah - Alive
Dark Fortress - Ylem
Massive Attack - Heligoland
Fear Factory - Mechanize
Reckless Kelly - Somewhere In Time
Arsis - Starve For The Devil
DevilDriver / Suffocation / Thy Will Be Done / Goatwhore
Asobi Seksu
James Blackshaw / Gary Higgins
Lil Wayne - Rebirth
Light This City - The Hero Cycle
Lightspeed Champion - Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - I Speak Fula
Georgia Anne Muldrow - King’s Ballad
Droids Attack - Must Destroy
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Ellen Allien / Various - Watergate O5
Through The Eyes Of The Dead - Skepsis
Pierced Arrows - Descending Shadows
Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool
Pawel - Pawel
Children Of Celebrities - Stereo Bang Bang
Midlake - The Courage Of Others
Guns N’ Roses
Julie Doiron / Attack in Black
Tegan and Sara / An Horse
Nouvelle Vague
Arch Enemy / Exodus
Between the Buried and Me / Cynic / Devin Townsend Project / Scale the Summit
Fucked Up - Couple Tracks
Magnetic Fields - Realism
Strong Arm Steady - In Search of Stoney Jackson
Harvey Milk - Harvey Milk
Basia Bulat - Heart Of My Own
Ihsahn - After
Living Sacrifice - The Infinite Order
Ihsahn - After
Steve Earle / Joel Plaskett
Scuba / Various - Sub:Stance
Make Me Young - Make Me Young
Taking Dawn - Time To Burn
Postdata - Postdata
Woodhands - Remorsecapade
Buraka Som Sistema / Various - Fabriclive 49
Beach House - Teen Dream
Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring
Various - Born Again Funk
Wetdog - Frauhaus!
Coolzey - The Honey
Rel!G!Ion - Revelations 1
Buraka Som Sistema / Various - Fabriclive 49
Chicago Underground Duo - Boca Negra
Cars & Trains - The Roots, the Leaves
Morton Feldman / Milton Babbitt / Phoenix Ensemble - Clarinet Quintets
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